Sea anemones - Decorative encyclopedic board - Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen der Natur

Reproduction engraving of: Sea anemones

Original title Actiniae - Seeanemonen

Poster of Heliactis - Cnidarians of the class Corals, Anthozoa (Order of hard corals, suborder of sea anemones)

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This information is over 120 years old and some of it may be outdated!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 Anthozoa (Anthozoa)
Legion of Star Corals (Zoantharia)
Order of Hexacoralla
Suborder of Sea Anemones or Flesh Corals (Actiniae, Actiniaria)

Scientific notice (extract) accompanying the poster print of Actiniae - Sea anemones :

Sea anemones or soft corals are distinguished from other star corals by the complete absence of internal calcareous deposits that form a solid skeleton in the latter (see Plate 9, Hexacoralla; Plate 29, Tetracoralla). The entire body of the coral individual, which in actinia almost always lives isolated and very rarely forms colonies, is soft, muscular, capable of expanding and contracting to a high degree, thus changing its shape considerably (see Figs. 1a, 1b and 7, 12a and 12b). Most sea anemones are not fixed to the seabed like the majority of other corals, but only attached by their pedal disc; they can therefore slowly change position. The cylindrical body, whose enlarged base forms this pedal disc, can expand for a long time (Figs. 3 and 12b) and contract strongly (Figs. 9 and 12a). The upper part of the column forms the highly mobile oral disc, in the center of which is the mouth opening; this leads to a muscular esophageal tube that opens below into the stomach proper. Despite their delicate floral shape and apparent modesty, soft sea anemones are voracious predators that eagerly grasp offered flesh and other food with their tentacles, carry them to their mouths, and digest them easily. The tentacles, which usually adorn the edge of the oral disc in large numbers, act not only as sensitive sensory organs but also as powerful prehensile arms. Observing these movements of the flower-like sea anemones is no less attractive than contemplating the elegant shapes and magnificent colors with which they are adorned; they are therefore among the favorites of visitors to our modern aquaria.

Species present on the naturalist board of Sea Anemones - Heliactis :

• Helicatis bellis
• Mesacmaea stellata
• Aiptasia couchii
• Cylista impatiens
• Bunodes thallia
• Metridium praetextum
• Heliactis troglodytes
• Anthea cereus
• Aiptasia undata
• Aiptasia diaphana
• Bunodes monilifera
• Corynactis viridis
• Metridium concinnatum
• Sagartia chrysosplenium
• Actiniloba dianthus