Narcomedusae - Scientific Art Reproduction - Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen der Natur

Engraving reproduction of: Narcomedusae

Original title Narcomedusae - Spangenquallen

Poster of Pegantha - Cnidarians of the class Medusae (Order Narcomedusae)

Illustration from the book Kunstformen der Natur, which is a collection of artistic lithographs of natural sciences published by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel between 1899 and 1904.

This naturalistic illustration is part of an overall style inspired by Ernst Haeckel, which greatly influenced the emerging Art Nouveau movement at the beginning of the ^20th century. This work, illustrating the impressive beauty and great diversity of the biological world, was complemented by a certain amount of scientific information, some excerpts of which are reproduced below.

This information is over 120 years old and some of it may be outdated!

Scientific classification:

 Cnidarian Phylum (Cnidaria)
Class of Jellyfish - Craspedotae
Order Narcomedusae (Narcomedusae).

Scientific notice (extract) accompanying the poster print of Narcomedusae - Narcoméduses :

The Narcomedusae form a special order within the class of Craspedotes or Hypromedusian jellyfish, characterized by the presence of free auditory sacs on the edge of the umbrella and by the development of genital organs in the lower wall of the stomach. The tentacles of these jellyfish, which emerge from the margin of the umbrella, are not hollow and very mobile as in most other jellyfish, but solid and rigid; they contract slowly and are often provided with sensory hairs. The auditory sacs (Fig. 7) are also transformed into tube-shaped tentacles, at the base of which fine auditory hairs rise freely; they also serve as organs of balance.

Species present on the Narcomedusae - Pegantha naturalist board :

• Pegantha pantheon
• Aeginura myosura
• Solmaris godeffroyi
• Cunarcha aeginoides
• Cunantha primigenia
• Cunoctantha discoidalis