Taken primarily from Kozloff, 1987, 1996 p. 32 (Copyright 1987, 1996, University of Washington Press. Used in this web page by permission of University of Washington Press)
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| Lower taxonomic level | Main Page | Alphabetic Index | Systematic Index | Glossary |
| 1a | With one or more tentacles and a manubrium (unless the specimen is damaged); size variable, but mature specimens generally more than 2 mm high. | 2 |
| 1b | With neither tentacles nor a manubrium; sexually mature specimens (with a fully developed gonad along each of the 4 radial canals) less than 2 mm high | Orthopyxis spp. |
| 2a | Tentacles originating at the margin of the bell | 3 |
| 2b | Tentacles originating decidedly above the margin of the bell | 62 |
| 3a | With not more than 4 tentacles | 4 |
| 3b | With more than 4 tentacles | 17 |
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| 17a | Tentacles (usually 9) branched once or twice, one branch ending in a sucker, the other 1 or 2 branches having swollen clusters of nematocysts at the tip and elsewhere | Cladonema californicum |
| 17b | Tentacles not branched | 18 |
| 18a | Radial canals branching, with all branches reaching the bell margin | 19 |
| 18b | Radial canals not branching (they may, however, have numerous lateral diverticula) | 21 |
| 19a | ||
| 19b | ||
| 20a | ||
| 20b | ||
| 21a | With 4 or 8 radial canals | 23 |
| 21b | With numerous radial canals | 22 |
| 22a | Bell up to 12 cm wide; with up to 100 (or more) symmetrical radial canals; in mature specimens all radial canals reach the bell margin; gonads extending along nearly the entire length of the radial canals; up to 150 tentacles in full-grown specimens, but the tentacles are not all of the same size. (A common species) | Aequorea victoria |
| 22b | Bell up to 1.2 cm wide; with fewer than 20 radial canals, these not symmetrically arranged, and some of them not reaching the bell margin; small globular gonads attached to the radial canals near the stomach; with more than 100 tentacles, all the same size. (a rare species) | Dipleurosoma typicum |
| 23a | With 4 radial canals | 28 |
| 23b | With 8 radial canals | 24 |
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| 24b | ||
| 25a | ||
| 25b | ||
| 26a | ||
| 26b | ||
| 27a | ||
| 27b | ||
| 28a | Tentacles evenly distributed around the bell margin | 34 |
| 28b | Most tentacles in clusters, although some single tentacles may also be present | 29 |
| 29a | ||
| 29b | ||
| 30a | ||
| 30b | ||
| 31a | ||
| 31b | ||
| 32a | ||
| 32b | ||
| 33a | ||
| 33b | ||
| 34a | Tentacles with prominent rings of nematocysts along their entire length (photo) | 35 |
| 34b | Tentacles without prominent rings of nematocysts along their entire length | 37 |
| 35a | Medusa nearly disk-shaped, not deeply convex; bell of mature specimens not more than 6 mm in diameter | 45 |
| 35b | Medusa bell-shaped, nearly hemispherical, bell of mature specimens more than 1 cm in diameter | 36 |
| 36a | Tentacles with an adhesive pad located some distance proximal to the tip (photo), and characteristically angled where the pad is located; without centripetal canals; gonads orange, red, or brown | Gonionemus vertens |
| 36b | Tentacles without an adhesive pad, but sometimes with a filamentous extension protruding at an angle from the tip; usually with numerous subumbrellar centripetal canals; gonads usually pale pink or brown | Eperetmus typus |
| 37a | Radial canals with conspicuous lateral diverticula whose length is at least twice the diameter of the canals | 38 |
| 37b | Radial canals without conspicuous lateral diverticula (if the margins of the canals are irregular, they do not form distinct diverticula whose length appreciably exceeds the diameter of the canals) | 40 |
| 38a | Bell higher than its diameter, or height and diameter nearly equal; gonads fingerlike, in 4 groups, attached to the radial canals and hanging down into the subumbrellar cavity | Polyorchis penicillatus |
| 38b | Diameter of bell much greater than the height; gonads closely associated with the radial canals and their diverticula, not hanging down into the subumbrellar cavity | 39 |
| 39a | ||
| 39b | ||
| 40a | Diameter of bell distinctly greater than the height; gonads associated with the radial canals | 41 |
| 40b | Height of bell greater than the diameter, or height and diameter nearly equal; gonads associated with the stomach | 53 |
| 41a | With ocelli on the tentacle bulbs or on the marginal vesicles | 42 |
| 41b | Without ocelli | 44 |
| 42a | ||
| 42b | ||
| 43a | ||
| 43b | ||
| 44a | With tentacles all the same size in mature specimens | 45 |
| 44b | With tentacles not all the same size in mature specimens | 52 |
| 45a | ||
| 45b | ||
| 46a | ||
| 46b | ||
| 47a | ||
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| 48a | ||
| 48b | ||
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| 51b | ||
| 52a | With up to 64 large tentacles and 5-9 small tentacles or cirri between each two large tentacles; ring canal and gonads usually pale rose-pink; exumbrellar surface smooth and regular | Mitrocomella polydiademata |
| 52b | With up to 350 tentacles, long and short ones more or less alternating; colorless, or with the gonads and/or the exumbrella pale blue; exumbrellar surface irregularly creased | Mitrocoma cellularia |
| 53a | With more than 50 marginal tentacles | 54 |
| 53b | With fewer than 50 marginal tentacles | 55 |
| 54a | With a large, bulbous apical projection that is somewhat pinched off from the rest of the bell; with up to 150 marginal tentacles; each with a black ocellus and some red or orange pigment on its bulb; bell more or less opaque | Catablema multicirrata |
| 54b | Apical projection low and rounded, not at all pinched off from the rest of the bell; with up to 100 or more marginal tentacles, these without ocelli; manubrium and tentacle bases usually orangish, bell not opaque | Neoturris brevicornis |
| 55a | ||
| 55b | ||
| 56a | ||
| 56b | ||
| 57a | ||
| 57b | ||
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| 58b | ||
| 59a | ||
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| 61a | ||
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| 62a | ||
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| 63a | ||
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| 64a | ||
| 64b | ||
| 65a | ||
| 65b |
Aequorea victoria
Gonionemus vertens
Mitrocoma cellularia
Neoturris brevicornis
Polyorchis penicillatus