Here is the diagram that shows the life progression of the nautilus' siphuncle. The nautilus' life begins and at that point in time, the siphuncle is present. At each life "cycle" the animal creates a new "camera"-a chamber-and a septum is formed to separate the living nautilus from the previous chamber. The septa and past chambers form along the siphuncle, each apparently in proportional size and distance from the last.
As life starts, the nautilus has a very small circle of influence along the siphuncle, but by the time the animal dies, it has reached its largest circle of influence and opens up into the world. Along the siphuncle, a calcified record is kept of every major change in the animal's life progression. The empty chambers are necessary for bouancy and enable the nautilus to float in the deep sea waters.
I need to learn more about the function of the siphuncle in order to understand the symbolism I want to attribute to the diagram above.
Diagram from Wikipedia
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