(Alder, 1862)
Description
Umbrella bell-shaped, about as high as wide [Podocoryne aerolata ]; apical process absent; jelly thin, in apical region thicker; velum broad. Four radial canals and ring canal narrow [P.areolata-subumbrellar ].
Gastric peduncle very slight; manubrium cylindrical, about half the length of bell cavity [P.areolata-drawing ]. Mouth with four simple, elongated, perradial lips, each lip armed with a terminal cluster of nematocysts [P.areolata-mouth lip ].
Gonads on interradial walls of manubrium and on proximal portions of radial canals; no asexual budding.
With up to 57 solid marginal tentacles; four perradial and four interradial tentacles large and with swollen bulbs, all other tentacles small, sizes differ. No ocelli on marginal tentacles [P.areolata-margin ].
Size
Umbrella 2-3 mm high and wide.
Colour
Manubrium, gonads, and basal bulbs of larger tentacles yellow or brownish [P.areolata-habitus ].
Distribution in the North Sea
Belgian coast.
World distribution
E North Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea.
[After Russell, 1953a; Russell, 1955; Kramp, 1959; Kramp, 1961]