Septa (singular septum) are thin walls or partitions between the internal chambers ( camerae) of the shell of a

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...

, namely nautiloids or

ammonoid Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...

s. As the creature grows, its body moves forward in the shell to a new

living chamber The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. In gastropods In gastropods, the ...

, secreting septa behind it. This adds new chambers to the shell, which can be clearly seen in cross-sections of the shell of the living nautilus, or in ammonoid and nautiloid fossils. The septa are attached to the inside wall of the shell, thus dividing the phragmocone into camerae. Where the septum meets the shell a suture line forms; in some ammonoids these lines became extremely complex and elaborate, providing strength without the necessity of added weight. Elaborate sutures allowed for thinner shells, and hence less time needed for shell growth and less time spent in the vulnerable juvenile stage. The nature and structure of the septa, as with the camerae, and

siphuncle 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 ...

, and the presence or absence of deposits, are important in classification of nautiloids. In some nautiloids, such as the Orthoceratidae, the septa tend to be widely spaced, resulting in large, long camarae. In others such as the Ellesmerocerida, Oncocerida and

Discosorida Discosorida are an order of cephalopods that lived from the beginning of the Middle Ordovician, through the Silurian, and into the Devonian. Discosorids are unique in the structure and formation of the siphuncle, the tube that runs through and c ...

the septa are crowded closely together. In some straight-shelled forms like ''

Actinoceras ''Actinoceras'' is the principal and root genus of the Actinoceratidae, a major family in the Actinocerida, that lived during the Middle and Late Ordovician. It is an extinct genus of nautiloid cephalopod that thrived in the warm waters of the U ...

'', calcium carbonate deposits extend from the camera (mural deposits) to the septa (episeptal deposits). It is possible to calculate the strength of cephalopod septa on the basis of their thickness and curvature, and from this the shell's implosion depth can be estimated. This has in turn been used to estimate maximum depth ranges for many living and extinct cephalopod groups, on the assumption that these animals would not normally venture deeper than two-thirds of their shell's implosion depth. Ordered by increasing depth, these estimated maximum depth ranges are:

(<100 m); Oncocerida and Tarphycerida (<150 m);

Actinoceroidea The Actinocerida are an order of generally straight, medium to large cephalopods that lived during the early and middle Paleozoic, distinguished by a siphuncle composed of expanded segments that extend into the adjacent chambers, in which depos ...

(50–150 m); Ellesmerocerida (50–200 m); Belemnitida (50–200 m, exceptionally to 350 m); Bactritoidea ( 400 m);

Endoceroidea Endocerida is an extinct nautiloid order, a group of cephalopods from the Lower Paleozoic with cone-like deposits in their siphuncle. Endocerida was a diverse group of cephalopods that lived from the Early Ordovician possibly to the Late Silu ...

(100–450 m);

Orthocerida Orthocerida is an order of extinct Orthoceratoid cephalopods also known as the Michelinocerida that lived from the Early Ordovician () possibly to the Late Triassic (). A fossil found in the Caucasus suggests they may even have survived until ...

(150–500 m); Nautilida (200–600 m); Aulacocerida (200–900 m); and Sepiida (200–1000 m).Westermann, G.E.G. (1973). Strength of concave septa and depth limits of fossil cephalopods. ''Lethaia'' 6(4): 383–403.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Septum (Marine Biology) Cephalopod zootomy Mollusc shells