Echinodermata

Clicking on most of these images will take you to a large version
so note that there are also very large versions available.

Echinoderms (Phylum Echinodermata) are an exclusively marine invertebrate animal species displaying radial symmetry as adults.

Member Classes include Asteroidea (starfish), Echinoidea (sea urchins and sand dollars), Crinoidea (stone lillies and feather stars), Holothurians (sea cucumbers) and Ophiuroidea (brittle stars).

Their extinct ancestors constitute a much larger group and have left behind an extensive fossil record. [fossil pictures]

The images above come from a multi-volume series of monographs from the 1840s entitled: 'Monographies d'Échinodermes Vivans et Fossiles' (Monographs of living and fossilised echinoderms).

Four of the five volumes are available from the Universities of Strasbourg Libraries (SICD) website (from memory the above images were harvested from all of the books). The author is Louis Agassiz who was mentioned in passing the other day in relation to a previous post - The Embryology of Turtles - which provides a little background and links about him.

Wikipedia // Echinoid Directory // Tree of Life // The Echinoblog