82 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
to me, offensive odour which survives the prolonged washing of
the hands. It is a really beautiful medusa. It can be captured
off Southend Pier, at Clacton, at Haven Gore bridge (Wakering)
and in the deep water channels of the Thames and Roach. It
can sometimes be found in "streets," miles in length, a quarter-
mile wide and some feet deep, in the West Swim, from the
"Swin Middle" light vessel to the "Mouse" light vessel off the
Maplin Sands at dead low-water. One cannot wonder at
infection of wandering Cyanea medusae, once one has seen
such thousands of Aurelia. There are four or five forms of
Aurelia medusae. Chrysaora also has four or five forms, dis-
tinguishable chiefly by their markings or the shape of the bell
and appendages.
The bell in this case, unlike Aurelia, which is shallow, is
deep ; the tentacles large and few in number and the manubrial
appendages very long and very beautiful. The colour is chiefly
yellow, with chestnut markings on the bell of isosceles triangles,
either hollow or solid in appearance. One form has no definite
colour. In Chrysaora the manubrial curtains are used almost
solely for the capture of food, very often their own species. A
specimen in the Essex Museum has a large prawn in the body-
cavity, but the crustacean and medusa may have been brought
into contact together in the same haul of a trawl. I have seen
planules of Cyanea infecting the appendages of Chrysaora, so
that it is well for investigators to watch for this.
It can be found at times off Southend Pier and Haven Gore
creek, but at its best in the S.W. eddy of the Goodwin Sands,
about three to five miles nearer the French Coast than the
South Goodwin lightship.
It is sporadic at the best of times, and many are the times
I have travelled in vain to obtain specimens, after a journey of
15 miles each way over marsh country.
Cyanea is also very sporadic at times, and the true blue and
red forms are but rarely seen together. Altogether there are
thirteen definite varieties of colour in Cyanea in the Thames
area. The bell is very transparent, solid and raised, with edges
deeply incised, tentacles long and very numerous and definitely-
poisonous in their action on the human skin: the masses of short
appendages, giving a "blobby" impression to the eye, render
it unmistakeable to anyone who has once seen this jellyfish.
Some specimens are very vivid in colour.