DISCOPHORJE. 



459 



interior of the animal. In summer it sometimes appears 

 in such swarms as to tinge large patches of the sea with a 

 delicate rosy hue. 



SUB-SECTION III. 

 THE ORDER OF DISCOPHOR^; OR MEDUSA PROPER. 



THE Jelly-fishes which belong to the order of Disco- 

 phorpe are more or less hemispherical often considerably 

 flattened and disk-shaped. 



The species are very numerous and varied in form, 

 structure, and color. Some kinds are very small, and 

 others are the largest and most magnificent of all the 

 Jelly-fishes, attaining a diameter of several feet, and in 

 some cases having tentacles a hundred feet in length. 



One of the common species of this group is the " Sun- 

 fish," Aurelm flamdula, (Figs. 690-093), of the North 

 Atlantic. It attains 

 a diameter of eight 

 to twelve inches. 

 In the spring it is 

 about a quarter of 

 an inch in diameter, 

 and in pleasant days 



FIG. 690. 



it moves in 



lare 



swarms near the sur- 

 face of the water. 



About the middle 

 of summer the Jel- 

 ly-fishes of this spe- 

 cies become full 



grown. Towards 



the Close Of SUm- 



, gun . fish>> , Aure iia Jlavidula, Peron and LcSueiir. 

 Offspring of Figs. 691-3. 



