Filming chambered nautilus for BBC Documentary

This will definitely be naive but ... What is the chance that the pearls are the by-product of dinner? While looking for jewelry recently, I saw a posting that claimed a pearl was found inside an octopus. I didn't put much faith in the post but it occured to me that consumption of a clam might include consuming an undigestable pearl and that pearl material might not be so foreign to the body of a relative that it might be harbored internally and pushed out of the way in some fashion. I did not know that nauts created them at one time and your post reminded me of my thoughts while reading the octopus pearl post.
 
DWhatley;178375 said:
What is the chance that the pearls are the by-product of dinner? While looking for jewelry recently, I saw a posting that claimed a pearl was found inside an octopus. I didn't put much faith in the post but it occured to me that consumption of a clam might include consuming an undigestable pearl and that pearl material might not be so foreign to the body of a relative that it might be harbored internally and pushed out of the way in some fashion. I did not know that nauts created them at one time and your post reminded me of my thoughts while reading the octopus pearl post.
I suppose this would be called a thread-hijacking. But perhaps it's the most appropriate way to introduce a peripheral subject such as biomineral concretions in cephalopods!

Any living thing produces anomalous concretions, bezoars (kidney stones) etc, whether to call it a pearl is subject to debate. There are those that insist that 'pearls' only be nacreous, for example.

I know Dave LeBlanc, he is describing a biomineral concretion resulting from a cyst, and his octopus 'pearl' is taken seriously by the pearl community, for its undeniable provenance and one-of-a-kind.

In addition, there is one lab-certified Argonauta pearl, and a total of about half a dozen Nautilus pearls. But these certifications have been given on anecdotal provenance, not scientific proof of ID, as no Westerner in a position to judge has been on hand to witness the actual finding (unlike Dave LeClare and his octopus!).

Only Nautilus among Cephalopoda has an exterior shell, which is primarily nacreous. Problem is, for several centuries all reports of loose Nautilus pearls (vs. blisters)—held as powerful talismans by Indo-Pacific natives for their rarity and the mysterious nature of the animal itself—have been of non-nacreous, or porcelaneous, concretions. This has created great debate in the pearl community, since the Nautilus shell is predominantly 'pearly' (nacreous) and one would expect the pearls to reflect this. Thus my conversations with Peter Ward and other top mollusk and shell microstructure scientists here and in Europe, regarding the incredible complexity of the Nautilus biomineral factory, which led to all the others. It is an ongoing journey involving Paleozoic evolution of the mollusk shell possible dormant genome sequences.

By the way, my avatar is a backlit microscopic view of a small (3.1 carat) purported Nautilus pearl, with a characteristic vortical swirl at the pole. Quite fascinating!
 
SteveM,

The filming did take place and went well. I believe it will be showing in Europe this Fall and then make its way across the pond to the USA but not sure how long that might take. I will definitely give updates when I receive them. I think the documentary will be very good and I can't wait to see it.

Greg
 
DWhatley;178375 said:
What is the chance that the pearls are the by-product of dinner? While looking for jewelry recently, I saw a posting that claimed a pearl was found inside an octopus. I didn't put much faith in the post but it occured to me that consumption of a clam might include consuming an undigestable pearl and that pearl material might not be so foreign to the body of a relative that it might be harbored internally and pushed out of the way in some fashion. I did not know that nauts created them at one time and your post reminded me of my thoughts while reading the octopus pearl post.
I had replied to this a couple of days ago but it remains pending admin review(??). In any case the octopus pearl is serious, a cyst from injury resulting in biomineral concretion, its provenance impeccable (pulled from the animal by a working scientist). As such, while not particularly beautiful, it is as rare as they come—one of a kind (even if not suitable for jewelry!).

Nautilus pearls are a centuries-old myth and are the subject of serious debate in the pearl world since historically and in actuality specimens proposed are non-nacreous despite the predominantly nacreous composition of the Nautilus shell. Provenance is uniformly anecdotal, as no Western scientist or pearl specialist has ever been present on extraction. This has led me on an exhaustive research project into Nautilus biominerality and biology, working closely with faculty at University of Washington and University of Granada, Spain (where I am now). Purported Nautilus pearls are represented in my avatar, a backlit microscopic view showing a unique albeit typical polar vortical growth structure. As a bonus, shell microstructure material scientists have determined that the pearls' composition was previously only known from Paleozoic mollusk fossils, and (only discovered in 2009) Monoplacophora. Talk about a mystery! If solved, it might have bearing on long-debated aspects of deep molluscan phylogeny (i.e. perhaps Cephalopoda originated in Monoplacophora/Triblidiida after all).

jgbarord: Thanks, and looking forward to the BBC segment!
 
Our moderators rarely block a post but the automatic system occasionally gets one that should not be held. Being staff, I read your original reply and did not notice that it was held from public viewing :oops:. It appears TONMO has remedied the problem.

For those of us needing a little laymen understanding, Wikipedia gives some short explanations and history of nacre (mother of pearl)
 
DWhatley;178563 said:
For those of us needing a little laymen understanding, Wikipedia gives some short explanations and history of nacre (mother of pearl)
Specific to my prior post, see citation 3 at the bottom of the Wikipedia nacre article from the world-renowned materials science/paleontology team at University of Granada. I will be with Checa next Friday for a full day of SEM work on a good number of putative Nautilus pearl specimens.
 
Here is the website for the BBC miniseries starting soon over in Europe. Unfortunately, much of the promos are "not available in my area" so it may be some time before the US has access to it. In any case, I cannot believe it is already here!!!

Greg
 
Sorry about that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/features/code/

SteveM, Will be going to Philippines August 3-15. Flights are booked so it is a definite go right now. I have been debating whether or not to create a blog about the trip and I haven't decided yet. I may just have to post something once we return for a number of reasons that will make sense when I return from the Philippines.

Greg
 
Thanks. Re Philippines, very much look forward to your reports. I believe the work is CITES-related. I'm also in correspondence with a prominent commercial malacologist there who is promoting the robustness and ubiquitousness of Philippine Nautilus populations. A debunking contest appears underway.
 
DWhatley;180091 said:
I'm confused. The only things under nautilus I find on that site are a video from the Planet Earth special and a piece about their eyes.
The video won't play in my remote location, but Leili of BBC said it was for a program on mathematics in nature (chaos/fractality). So it would be for The Code, just a brief clip as background for a discussion of Nautilus and the Golden Ratio.
 
Sadly, it is not just YOUR remote location (whereever you happen to be at the moment). Possibly OB can view it in Europe and maybe our Australian group but it is not available to me either.
 

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