|Question 14Verbal

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Paleontologist Amane Tajika and colleagues analyzed the shells of two marine mollusks called nautilids that were harvested from New Caledonia. The researchers found that samples from shell sections that formed before hatching, including sample F07, formed in water, whereas samples from sections that formed after hatching, including M13, formed in water. These findings are consistent with the temperatures Fijian nautilids encounter during their corresponding stages of development. Because water temperature varies with depth, a biology student hypothesized that the New Caledonian nautilids lay their eggs at approximately the same depth as Fijian nautilids do.
Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken the student's hypothesis?
Fijian nautilids generally live at lower depths than New Caledonian nautilids do, though Fijian nautilids migrate to the typical depth of New Caledonian nautilids to lay their eggs.
A
Once a nautilid hatches, it is a very mobile animal, so the temperature values reported by Tajika and colleagues for the adult nautilids are averages over a potentially large range of depths.
B
The water temperature at a given depth tends to be lower in waters near New Caledonia than it is at that depth in waters near Fiji.
C
There are few locations near Fiji with water temperatures of that are suitable for nautilid eggs.
D