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

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2. Stylaster flabelliformis

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3. Sea Anemones

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4. Chrysaora gaudichaudi

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5. Rhizostoma cuvieri

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6. Cephea cyclophora

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7. Physophora hydrostatica

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8. Agalma rubra

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9. Praya diphys

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10. Physalia utriculus

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11. Asterias rubens

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12. Pentacrinus europaeus

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13. Ophiocoma russei

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14. Sea Urchins

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15. Synapta duvernaea

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16. Oysters

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17. Pectinidae

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18. Spondylus

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19. Razorfish

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20. Turritellidae

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21. Conus

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22. Cypraeadae

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23. Voluta

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24. Tritons

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25. Cerithium

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26. Octopus macropus

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27. Octopus vulgaris

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28. Pinnoctopus and Cirrotheutis

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29. Gigantic Cuttlefish

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30. Palinurus vulgaris

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31. Corystes cassivelaunus

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32. Raia batis

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33. Raia clavata

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34. Shark

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35. Hammerhead shark

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36. Orthagoriscus and Tetraodon

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37. Balistes

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38. Diodon pilosus

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39. Trumpet Pipefish

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40. Seahorse

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41. Cyclopterus

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42. Flying Fish

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43. Frogfish

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44. Stomia bea

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45. Swordfish

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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.