Forskål, 1775
Description
Pneumatophore with a deep red- pigmented cap [P.hydrostatica-photo ].
Nectophore [Physophora hydrostatica ]: up to 20 mm in height, flimsy, with no apparent ridges, and arranged in two rows, approximately 12 in each, down the nectosome. The part closest to the stem is hollowed out (compare Apolemia uvaria). Extensive Y-shaped nectosac has characteristically looped lateral radial canals; the dorsal and ventral canals are sinuous.
Siphosome: palpons greatly enlarged, covering and protecting the other cormidial elements on the bag-like siphonosome. They possess long, fine palpacles.
Whole polygastric stage: P.hydrostatica-colony.
Colour
Pneumatophore with a deep red- pigmented cap. In life the palpons are pinkish-blue.
Size
Pneumatophore: up to 5 mm in length.
Nectophore: up to 15 mm in length.
Depth range
Unknown.
Distribution in the North Sea
Northern North Sea, rare in the Skagerrak and the southern North Sea.
World distribution
Cosmopolitan in the World’s oceans, commoner in the Atlantic, in more temperate waters.
Several records from the Scottish Shelf region and from the Faeroes. It was reported from a rock pool on the west coast of Ireland.
[After Kirkpatrick and Pugh, 1984]