Cannonball jellyfish

Cannonball, or cabbagehead, jellyfish (Stomolophus
meleagris; L. Agassiz 1860), also known as jellyballs,
belong to the class Scyphozoa and order Rhizostomeae.
Agassiz (1860) described and illustrated the medusa of
cannonballs using specimens collected from Wassaw
Island, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina. The
hemisperical bell reaches 20 to 25 cm (8 to 10 inches) in size and is bordered with brown pigment. It has short, protruding oral arms with secondary mouth folds (scapulets) at the base of the bell covered with mucus for trapping small prey. Stomolophus meleagris means “many mouthed hunter.” The mucus is also thought to be a response to disturbance rather than for feeding (Phillips et al. 1969; Larson 1976).