- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Cnidaria
- Class: Hydrozoa
- Subclass: Hydroidolina
- Order: Leptothecata
- Family: Aequoreidae
- Scientific name: Aequorea forskalea
- Norwegian: -
Characteristics:
Hydroid stage: Well defined characteristics for the hydroid stage is not available. Colonies of unidentified members of Aequoreidae has a branched step, up to 1 cm of height.
Medusa stage: This is one of the larger medusae, sometimes reaching a diameter of 17-18 cm. It is causer-shaped, gradually thinning towards the margin. There are usually between 60 and 160 radial canals. The gonads run almost the full length of the canals. It can be distinguished from another large medusa of the same family, A. vitrina, by the number of tentacles. It has approximately one tentacle for each radial canal, while A. vitrina has three times as many tentacles.
Habitat:
The medusa is a coastal plankton. The hydroids are registered from the sub-tidal zone and down to 150 meters. They grow on a wide range of substrates.
Distribution:
It is well known from the Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indian Oceans.