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This scyphozoan (or "true jellyfish") is easily the most frequently occuring Essex animal, It has a membranous skirt extending from the main part of the bell, or accessory lobe, to enclose completely the eight oral lobes and all but the end of the tentacles. Because of the skirt and the unusual on-the-side mode of preservation, the exact number of tentacles is unclear. Before its description in 1979, it was at various times thought to be a pseudofossil, tree branch scars, or possibly even fossilized floating algal mats.
