HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

Cover Legend: Ascidige: Seescheiden (Chordata: Ascidiacea) by Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919); Plate 85 from "Kunstformen der Natur" (1904). Ernst Haeckel was the German scientist who coined the terms "Darwinism" and ecology". He was also an accomplished artist. Haeckel described the wide variety of sea-squirts shown on this plate as "usually living alone as single organisms, they sometimes form colonies of mushroom-like bodies clustered around a central core or collective mouth." The single squirt from Sumatra (top left) resembles a pin cushion. Its mouth, the red-flanged central figure, is segmented into four lips with many wart-like sacs. The translucent shells or "tunics" of these creatures contain glyconjugates and cellulases, a rarity in the animal kingdom. Their intense coloration and glistening surface resulted in one of Haeckel’s most decorative illustrations, resembling a collection of Russian Easter eggs or Faberge enamels. (From an exhibition at the MLB/WHOI library, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, curated by Ann Weissmann, http://www.mblwhoilibrary.org/haeckel.)