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]

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Cnidaria
Superclass Hydrozoa
Class Leptolida
Subclass Anthoathecatae
Order Filifera
Family Hydractiniidae
Genus Podocoryne
Species Podocoryne carnea

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Synonym of Podocoryna carnea (M. Sars)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Sarsia nodosa | Busch, 1851
Calycidion formosum | Fewkes, 1882
Podocoryne conchicola | Hargitt, 1904

Kramp, P.L., 1959. The hydromedusae of the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent waters. Dana Report 46: 1-283; 2 plates, 335 text figures.

Russell, F.S., 1953a. The medusae of the British Isles. Anthomedusae, Leptomedusae, Limnomedusae, Trachymedusae, and Narcomedusae. Cambridge University Press, 530 pp. 319 figures, 35 plates.

Russell, F.S., 1977b. Hydromedusae. Families: Clavidae and Hydractiniidae. Fiches d'Identification du Zooplancton, 154 (1977). Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer, Kopenhagen.

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