Beroe cucumis

O. Fabricius, 1780

Description
Body sack or vase shaped, often compressed in what corresponds to the tentacular plane. Ciliary comb-rows equal in length extending from the aboral pole and to about three-quarters of the distance towards the mouth. There is a row of branched papillae in the form of a figure-8 around the pole plate at the aboral pole. The four meridional canals of each broad side are in connexion orally by means of the oral forks of the pharyngeal. From the meridional canals branched anastomoses protrude into the ecto-mesoderm.

Colour
Mature specimens are pink in colour especially along the meridional canals and comb rows.

Juveniles
The young cannot be distinguished from Beroe gracilis.

Size
Adult up to 150 mm high.

Depth range
No information available.

Distribution in the North Sea
All North Sea, including Skagerrak and Kattegat.

World distribution
North Atlantic and the coastal waters of NW Europe.

[After Greve, 1975]

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