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Cover Legend: Actinae: Seeanemonen (Cnidaria: Anthozoa). Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) was the German scientist who coined the phrase “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” and the terms “Darwinism” and “ecology.” Haeckel traveled far and wide, from Sicily to Ceylon, to the North Sea, and beyond. Sketchpads and watercolors accompanied his microscope wherever he went. His on-the-spot drawings of deep-sea vegetation, aquatic creatures, frogs, birds, and higher animals were turned into more than 1000 engravings. From this treasure trove, a selection of 100 colored lithographs were produced for publication in his Kunstformen der Natur. The work is considered one of the marvels of 19th century naturalist illustration. This plate shows actinia, a species of animal, closely related to the corals, sometimes called Pedifoggers or Suckers. They are most often found clinging to the bottom of the sea floor. Haeckel’s illustration heightens their coloration while retaining their natural forms in meticulous detail. By setting the anemones within a threedimensional habitat, Haeckel draws on his expertise as a landscape painter. In this rendering, their axon-like extensions, dendrites, and cerebellar convolutions suggest a neural landscape. (From an exhibition “Ernst Haeckel: Art Forms in Nature” at the MBLWHOI library, curated by Ann Weissmann http://www.mblwhoilibrary.org/haeckel/wallcharts/images/large/plate_49.jpg)