A mysterious deep-water animal on the protected list on the mainland is being sold in Hong Kong aquariums as a pet.
The Sunday Morning Post has learned that nautiluses - a cephalopod mollusc that has eyes, up to 90 tentacles and lives in a spirally coiled shell - are being sold for $380 in the absence of restrictions.
'In Hong Kong you don't need an import licence because they are not on the list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora,' a spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said.
The spokesman said nautiluses were Grade One State Protected Species on the mainland but had yet to make the international list because of a lack of information on their numbers.
Nautiluses - whose name comes from the Greek word nautilos, meaning sailor - have survived for 400 million years relatively unchanged. They spend most of their time 600 to 800 metres under water and rise to around 200 metres at night to feed, mate and lay eggs.
They are found only in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean near coral reefs. They grow to 30cm in diameter and feed mainly on shrimp and other small sea-life.
Popular among shell collectors, the spiral of a nautilus shell is one of the most perfect found in nature.