Narcomedusae
Sign in to saveNarcomedusae is an order of hydrozoans in the subclass Trachylinae. Members of this order do not normally have a polyp stage. The medusa has a dome-shaped bell with thin sides. The tentacles are attached above the lobed margin of the bell with usually a gastric pouch above each. There are no bulbs on the tentacles and no radial canals. Narcomedusans are mostly inhabitants of the open sea and deep waters. They can be found in the Mediterranean in large numbers. Narcomedusae are essential to the ecosystem as they are top-down regulators for the midwater environment.
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5 sectionsContents
- Feeding behavior
- Reproductive features
- Anatomy
- Gallery
- References
Narcomedusae is an order of hydrozoans in the subclass Trachylinae. Members of this order do not normally have a polyp stage. The medusa has a dome-shaped bell with thin sides. The tentacles are attached above the lobed margin of the bell with usually a gastric pouch above each. There are no bulbs on the tentacles and no radial canals. Narcomedusans are mostly inhabitants of the open sea and deep waters. They can be found in the Mediterranean in large numbers. Narcomedusae are essential to the ecosystem as they are top-down regulators for the midwater environment.
==Feeding behavior== Narcomedusae use their tentacles to catch large, fast-moving prey. They do this by holding their tentacles perpendicular to the direction they are swimming to cover a larger area. If something is caught they bend the tentacle inwards and coil them at the tips to their mouths.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Narcomedusae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.