Turritopsis nutricula
Colonies erect, 3 - 4 cm high, bushy, branched and straggling, stems fascicled, covered in a fine perisarc. Branches joined to stem for a short distance before diverging.
One hydranth 1 - 2 mm long, terminal on each branch, hydranth body naked, with scattered filiform tentacles.Medusa buds borne on the body of hydranth, pear-shaped with eight marginal tentacles at release.
Adult medusa deep bell-shaped, 1 - 2 cm wide, stomach cross-shaped, surrounded by four large gonads, mouth with four elongated lobes. Margin of bell with up to 100 tentacles.
Colour: Perisarc of colony buff-coloured, hydranths pink, tentacles white. Bell of medusa transparent, gonads rose red.
Cosmopolitan. Australian distribution New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
Subtidal, growing on algal and invertebrate substrates.