The engraving illustrates three marine creatures:
1. **Ophiure serpent de mer** - This is likely an ophiuroid, commonly known as a brittle star. These are echinoderms, related to starfish, with long, slender arms that are distinct from the central disc.
2. **Murène zèbre, a. coupe du corps** - This represents a zebra moray eel, known for its strikingly patterned body and elongated shape. Moray eels are a type of fish with a dorsal fin that extends almost the entire length of the body.
3. **Sphagebranchè aveugle, b. tête vue en dessous** - This could refer to a blind cave eel or a similar species, which are characterized by reduced eyes and pigmentation due to living in darkness.
The print itself is part of a series from the 'Dictionnaire Classique des Sciences Naturelles', which aimed to document and illustrate a variety of species for scientific and educational purposes. The hand-coloring adds detail and realism to the creatures, which would have been particularly important for enhancing understanding at a time when color photography was not available.
Bartele Gallery. Original antique maps, sea charts, engravings and works on paper. This is a plain text rendering of a page that is otherwise built in the browser. The catalogue index is at https://www.bartele.net/catalogue and machine readable notes are at https://www.bartele.net/llms.txt.