ArticleDie Naturwissenschaften2026
Portrayal of the deep sea: Haeckel's Atolla wyvillei, the challenger expedition, and the boundaries of science and illustration.
Article in Die Naturwissenschaften, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The Challenger expedition marked a turning point for marine biology, revolutionizing the scientific research of ocean life. It yielded a report of 50 volumes totaling nearly 30,000 pages-a monumental result that remains unchallenged. Among its vast contributions are reports by Ernst Haeckel on previously unknown species of radiolarians and medusae, which stand out for their lasting influence on the taxonomy of marine organisms. Atolla wyvillei Haeckel, 1880 is among these newly described medusae, named in honor of Sir Charles Wyville Thomson, the chief scientist of the HMS Challenger. Housed in the holdings of the Phyletisches Museum Jena (PMJ), the type specimen of A. wyvillei is carefully reexamined and documented with high-resolution imaging here for the first time. Furthermore, previously unknown microscope slide sections of an additional syntype of A. wyvillei are revealed. By directly comparing these primary physical preparations with Haeckel's published plates, this study provides empirical evidence to resolve long-standing historical debates regarding Haeckel's reliance on artistic interpretation or fleeting species descriptions. This physical reevaluation demonstrates that his illustrations were grounded in meticulous histological analysis, thereby providing an objective basis to reassess Haeckel's taxonomic legacy and safeguard primary type material for contemporary and future research.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.