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Information about Camerae

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Cutaway of a nautilus shell showing the chambers


Camerae (singular camera) are the spaces or chambers enclosed between two adjacent septa in the phragmocone of a nautiloid or ammonoid cephalopod. These can be seen in cross-sections of a nautilus shell and in the polished cross-sections of ammonites. In life these chambers are filled with gas, mediated by the siphuncle, and used to control buoyancy.

Some Palaeozoic nautiloid genera, especially those with long, straight shells, are distinguished by Cameral Deposits. These were accumulations of calcium carbonate secreted in the empty chambers of the shell, used for ballast and control of buoyancy. The nature and form of these deposits are very useful in nautiloid classification.
Septa (singular septum) are thin walls or partitions between the internal chambers (camerae) of the shell of a cephalopod, namely nautiloids or ammonoids.

As the creature grows, its body moves forward in the shell to a new living chamber, secreting septa behind it.
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phragmocone is the chambered portion of the shell of a cephalopod. It is divided by septa into camerae.

In most nautiloids and ammonoids, the phragmocone is a long, straight, curved, or coiled structure, in which the camarae are linked by a siphuncle which determines
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Nautiloidea
Agassiz, 1847

Orders

Palcephalopoda
  • †Plectronocerida
  • †Ellesmerocerida
  • †Actinocerida
  • †Pseudorthocerida
  • †Endocerida
  • †Tarphycerida
  • †Oncocerida

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Cephalopoda
Cuvier, 1797

Orders

Subclass Nautiloidea
  • †Plectronocerida
  • †Ellesmerocerida
  • †Actinocerida
  • †Pseudorthocerida
  • †Endocerida
  • †Tarphycerida
  • †Oncocerida

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Nautilina
Agassiz, 1847

Family: Nautilidae
Blainville, 1825

Genera

Allonautilus
Nautilus

Nautilus (from Greek ναυτίλος
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The siphuncle is a strand of tissue passing longitudinally through the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. Only cephalopods with chambered shells have siphuncles, such as the extinct ammonites and belemnites, and the living nautiluses, cuttlefish, and Spirula.
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In physics, buoyancy is the upward force on an object produced by the surrounding fluid (i.e., a liquid or a gas) in which it is fully, or partially immersed, due to the pressure difference of the fluid between the top and bottom of the object.
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The Paleozoic Era (from the Greek palaio, "old" and zoion, "animals", meaning "ancient life") is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon.
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orthocone is a usually long straight shell of a nautiloid cephalopod. During the 18th and 19th centuries, all shells of this type were named Orthoceras, but it is now known that many groups of nautiloids developed or retained this type of shell.
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Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound, with the chemical formula CaCO3. It is a common substance found as rock in all parts of the world, and is the main component of shells of marine organisms, snails, and eggshells.
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ballast tank is a compartment within a boat or ship, that holds water. A vessel may have a single ballast tank near its center or multiple ballast tanks typically on either side.
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