M. Sars, 1846
Description
Umbrella bell-shaped, slightly higher than wide [Podocoryne carnea ]; apical process absent; jelly thin; exumbrella with scattered nematocysts; velum broad. Four radial canals and ring canal narrow.
Gastric peduncle absent; manubrium cylindrical, about half the length of the bell cavity. Four oral perradial lips simple, each lip armed with a single, terminal, cluster of long-stalked nematocysts.
Gonads on interradial walls of manubrium, maturing soon after release from the hydroid; no asexual budding.
In British waters with five to eight marginal tentacles, four perradial and up to four interradial, but may mature with only four marginal tentacles; tentacles never spirally coiled. Mediterranean medusa with up to 16 tentacles. Ocelli absent.
Young stages: P.carnea-newly; P.carnea-young-habitus.
Size
Umbrella 1 mm high and wide.
Colour
Manubrium and marginal tentacle bulbs yellow, reddish or reddish brown.
Ecology and depth range
Coastal. Medusae are probably produced during spring and summer months, but short-lived and never commonly taken in the plankton. The hydranths are commonly found on shells of Nassarius and other gastropods.
Distribution in the North Sea
Likely to occur along all surrounding coasts, possibly rarer in the eastern English Channel and the southern North Sea.
World distribution
Cosmopolitan.
[After Russell, 1953a; Russell, 1977b; Kramp, 1959]