(Forbes, 1846)
Description
Umbrella dome-shaped, slightly wider than high [P.stellata-male-habitus ]; jelly thick; exumbrella with 24 or more nematocyst clusters between marginal tentacles; velum narrow. Radial canals narrow, the 6 primary canals branching to form 24 in all [P.stellata-development-diagram; P.stellata-abnormal-diagram]; ring canal absent.
Gastric peduncle very short, manubrium short, six-sided, with 6 radial gastric lobes over subumbrellar surface; mouth with six folded lips.
Gonads on manubrium and gastric lobes.
Up to 24 short marginal tentacles, each situated at the end of a radial canal branch [P.stellata-male-habitus ]; tentacles hollow, with adaxial basal nematocyst cushions. Statocysts and ocelli absent.
Young specimen: P.stellata-young-habitus.
Size
Umbrella 9 mm wide, 8 mm high.
Colour
Tentacle bases yellowish-brown, dark purple-brown or black; manubrium and gonads yellow or reddish yellow.
Ecology and depth range
Meropelagic; neritic.
Distribution in the North Sea
North Sea from Bergen (Norway) to the English Channel.
World distribution
North Atlantic Ocean; E South Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans.
[After Russell, 1953a; Russell, 1978b; Kramp, 1959; Bouillon, 1999]