(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]

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Cnidaria
Superclass Hydrozoa
Class Leptolida
Subclass Limnomedusae
Family Proboscidactylidae
Genus Proboscidactyla
Species Proboscidactyla stellata

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Proboscidactyla stellata (Forbes, 1846)

Scientific synonyms and common names

Willsia stellata | Forbes, 1846
Lar sabellarum | Hincks, 1872 = younger name applied to polyp

Bouillon, J., 1999. Hydromedusae. In: D. Boltovskoy (ed.), South Atlantic Zooplankton, Vol. 1. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands, pp. 385-465.

Fraser, J.H., 1972. The distribution of the Medusae in the Scottish area. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (B) 74(1): 1-25.

Kramp, P.L. and D. Damas, 1925. Les Méduses de la Norvège. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Dansk naturhistorisk Forening i København 80: 217-323.

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., 1978b. Addenda to Hydromedusae. families: Pandeidae, Trichydridae, Laodiceidae, Proboscidactylidae. Fiches d'Identification du Zooplancton, 161 (1978). Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer, Kopenhagen.

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