Pietro Formis
The Passenger
Paper nautilus perched on a group of salps, Philippines, 2024
Category - Ocean Worlds
A small female paper nautilus (Argonauta argo) perches on a group of salps – a type of animal plankton – in Anilao’s blackwater in the Philippines. She uses these as a platform while she protects and lays her eggs inside her delicate, coiled shell. The paper nautilus exhibits a remarkable behaviour of carrying her egg sac, which she guards and nurtures. The salps, drifting with the current, provide a temporary resting place for this fascinating cephalopod, illustrating the unique interactions between species in the open sea. This behaviour highlights the adaptability and resourcefulness of the paper nautilus, which is known for its incredible ability to harness the ocean’s dynamic environment to its advantage. The relationship between the nautilus and the salps is an example of how oceanic creatures find unexpected partnerships in the vast, ever-changing sea. As the salps are carried by the currents, the nautilus remains poised, her soft body hidden, protected by her fragile, paper-thin shell, an elegant and subtle masterpiece of nature’s design.
90 mm f/2.8 Lens - 1/320 sec at f/18 ISO 500