Dry land covers only a small percentage of the planet. It’s no wonder, then, that we’ve always been a little mystified about what’s happening in the oceans, where weird creatures are the rule rather than the exception. The following illustrations were found in a book published in 1868 called The Ocean World, which is a compilation of the translated works of French scientist Louis Figuier. Each illustration was drawn from a specimen in the Museum of Natural History of Paris, where weird-but-beautiful things are collected.
1. The Argonaut
2. Stylaster flabelliformis
3. Sea Anemones
4. Chrysaora gaudichaudi
5. Rhizostoma cuvieri
6. Cephea cyclophora
7. Physophora hydrostatica
8. Agalma rubra
9. Praya diphys
10. Physalia utriculus
11. Asterias rubens
12. Pentacrinus europaeus
13. Ophiocoma russei
14. Sea Urchins
15. Synapta duvernaea
16. Oysters
17. Pectinidae
18. Spondylus
19. Razorfish
20. Turritellidae
21. Conus
22. Cypraeadae
23. Voluta
24. Tritons
25. Cerithium
26. Octopus macropus
27. Octopus vulgaris
28. Pinnoctopus and Cirrotheutis
29. Gigantic Cuttlefish
30. Palinurus vulgaris
31. Corystes cassivelaunus
32. Raia batis
33. Raia clavata
34. Shark
35. Hammerhead shark
36. Orthagoriscus and Tetraodon
37. Balistes
38. Diodon pilosus
39. Trumpet Pipefish
40. Seahorse
41. Cyclopterus
42. Flying Fish
43. Frogfish
44. Stomia bea
45. Swordfish
Collected from The Ocean World: being a descriptive history of the sea and its living inhabitants, translated from La Vie et les Moeurs des Animaux, by Louis Figuier, and illustrated under the direction of Charles Bévalet from specimens in the Museum of Natural History of Paris, 1867-1868. Where applicable, binomial nomenclature has not been altered from the book's text to avoid misclassification of species.