Deepstaria reticulum

Deepstaria reticulum, is a jellyfish of the family Ulmaridae. It was described by Larson, Madin, and Harbison in 1988. This was the second described Deepstaria species, the first having been Deepstaria enigmatica (Russell, 1967).

Deepstaria reticulum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Scyphozoa
Order:	Semaeostomeae
Family:	Ulmaridae
Genus:	Deepstaria
Species:	D. reticulum
Binomial name
Deepstaria reticulum Larson, Madin, and Harbison, 1988

Description

Deepstaria reticulum has a wide, fan-like bell that is often a deep purple color, under the bell there is a small cluster of tentacles, loaded with stinging, venomous barbs like any other jellyfish. At the largest, they get about 0.7 meters long. Unlike D. enigmatica, the bell of D. reticulum is spread wide, like a thin, translucent bed sheet. The digestive tract consists of a highly branched network of canal systems spread over the entire length of the body.^[1]

Further reading

• Larson, R. J.; Madin, L. P.; Harbison, G. R. (11 May 2009). "In Situ Observations of Deepwater Medusae in the Genus Deepstaria, with a Description of D. Reticulum, Sp. Nov". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. 68 (4): 689–699. doi:10.1017/S0025315400028800. S2CID 85058358.