Forbes, 1848
Description
Umbrella bell-shaped with horizontal margin, apex rounded without pointed apical process [Euphysa aurata ]. Jelly thick, especially in apical region. Velum fairly wide. Four radial canals present. Manubrium tubular, with rounded apex, shorter than bell cavity. Mouth simple, circular, surrounded by nematocysts. Gonad encircling almost all manubrium, leaving upper end of manubrium and mouth free. Exumbrella without nematocyst tracks. One moniliform tentacle, three non-tentacular marginal bulbs smaller than tentacular bulb and with slight spurs. Marginal tentacular bulbs without ocelli.
Young medusa: E.aurata-newly.
Size
Umbrella up to 6 mm high, higher than wide.
Colour
[E.aurata-habitus ] Gonads yellow, oral end of manubrium often splashed with crimson; ring canal occasionally crimson; marginal bulbs yellowish to crimson, sometimes colourless; marginal tentacle yellow.
Ecology and depth range
Neritic. In northern British coastal waters medusae are common in the plankton from June to August; medusae first appear in March or April, and small numbers are still present throughout autumn and winter till January.
Distribution in the North Sea
Northern and southern North Sea.
World distribution
North Atlantic Ocean including Arctic waters and Mediterranean Sea; E and W South Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans including the Indo-Pacific Antarctic sector.
[After Russell, 1953a; Kramp, 1959; Kramp, 1961; Bouillon, 1999]