Stauromedusae

an order of marine coelenterates of the class Scyphozoa. Stauromedusans greatly differ from the representatives of other orders in terms of structure and life cycle. Apparently, they are scyphistomae that have attained sexual maturity and lost their capacity for asexual reproduction by transverse fission. The body is shaped like a goblet on a stem, standing 2–15 cm high. The edges of the oral side are elongated into eight arms, each of which bears a bundle of small capitate tentacles. Stauromedusans reproduce only sexually. A creeping larva that lacks cilia emerges from the egg. After metamorphosis, it develops into a young stauromedusan. There are approximately 30 species, with 12 species distributed in the USSR. Stauromedusans are benthic and capable of moving by slowly gliding like a hydra.