45 Wonderful Illustrations of Sea Life From 1868

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.