Polyzoa I
1885-1890
Frederick McCoy wasn't painting for the Louvre; he was documenting the weird, wonderful world of Australian marine life in the late 1800s. This page features 'Polyzoa' (now known as Bryozoa), which are tiny colonial animals that look like a cross between coral and moss. Notice the intricate, tube-like structures and star-shaped clusters—each one is actually a colony of thousands of microscopic creatures working together. McCoy published this in his massive 'Prodromus of the Zoology of Victoria,' essentially creating a Victorian-era encyclopedia of sea life that helped scientists understand biodiversity down under.
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