paper nautilus
- any of a genus (Argonauta) of small, squidlike octopods: the female secretes a large, frail, paperlike shell to protect her eggs until they hatch; argonaut
- this shell
See paper nautilus in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun A cephalopod mollusk (Argonauta argo) with eight tentacles, the female of which inhabits a paper-thin shell that later acts as an egg case. Also called argonaut.