Siphonophores - Illustrated drawing from life - Ernst Haeckel, Kunstformen der Natur

Reproduction engraving of: Siphonophores

Original title Siphonophorae - Staatsquallen

Poster of Epibulia - Cnidarians of the class Siphonophores (Order Siphonophores)

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This information is over 120 years old and some of it may be outdated!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 Siphonophores (Siphonophorae)
Order Cystonectaria (Cystonectae)

Scientific notice (extract) accompanying the poster print of Siphonophorae - Siphonophores :

Colonial jellyfish or siphonophores consist of a highly interesting group of numerous individuals swimming on the sea surface, characterized by their flower-like shape and the graceful movements of their delicate bodies; they are also of great importance for the fundamental question of the division of labor (ergonomics) and the resulting polymorphism. The mature body of all siphonophores forms a collective organism (cormus) composed of numerous individual units originally medusoid; these specialize in various life tasks (swimming, feeding, prey capture, sensation, reproduction), and as a result, they have developed different adaptive forms. All body parts of siphonophores are more or less transparent, often beautifully colored, similar to colored glass, which makes them very sensitive and mobile. The size of most species varies between ten and ninety centimeters; the largest forms reach a length of one meter or more.

Species present on the Siphonophores - Epibulia naturalist board :

• Epibulia ritteriana
• Cystalia monogastrica
• Salacia polygastrica