Fossil sea lilies (Crinoidea) about 12-16 cm, very rare.

Until the second half of the nineteenth century, sea lilies were still considered an extinct group. The fossils of sea lilies have been known for a long time because they are found in large quantities in rock formations. However, a living specimen had never been seen until 1864 when a living sea lily was suddenly fished out of the Vestfjord near the Lofoten by Georg Ossian Sars. The news about this prompted the Challenger expedition (1873-76) to start dredging for living sea lilies from the deep, and with success. Later they were also found in the Atlantic Ocean during repair work on submarine cables at great depths.