Edwards, 1978
Description
Umbrella bell-shaped, jelly evenly thick, rather thin [Sarsia occulta ]. Velum broad, about half of radius. Interradial exumbrellar furrows not very distinct. Four radial canals and ring canal narrow, umbilical canal present throughout; glandular thickenings of radial canals slight; apical knob small, conical. Subumbrellar pockets absent.
Manubrium twice as long as bell height, thin with spindle-shaped oral region; mouth covered with nematocysts.
Gonads encircling manubrium up to swollen mouth region.
Tentacle bulbs small, each with a round abaxial ocellus, radial canals enter bulbs normally. Tentacles 1.5 times umbrella height, armed with many scattered nematocyst clusters, which distally are ring-shaped, terminal cluster sphaerical but not enlarged.
Size
Umbrella up to 3.4 mm high, slightly smaller in diameter; manubrium up to 8 mm long.
Colour
Gastro-dermal system orange, brownish-red or scarlet; ocelli deep violet to black.
Ecology and depth range
Medusae can be found from late winter to spring in water ranging in temperature from 7-11°C (Schuchert, 2001). Hydroids are found near low water mark.
Distribution in the North Sea
Northern North Sea.
World distribution
Not completely known.
[After Edwards, 1978; Schuchert, 2001]