''Aglaura'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus of deep-sea

hydrozoan Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; from Ancient Greek ('; "water") and ('; "animals")) is a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit saline water. The colonies of the colonial sp ...

in the family

Rhopalonematidae Rhopalonematidae is a family of hydrozoans Hydrozoa (hydrozoans; from Ancient Greek ('; "water") and ('; "animals")) is a taxonomic class of individually very small, predatory animals, some solitary and some colonial, most of which inhabit ...

. It is represented by the species ''Aglaura hemistoma''. It has a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...

in tropical to temperate oceans. ''A. hemistoma'' are omnivorous creatures, feeding on protistan and microplanktonic prey. They utilize water current flow fields and ambush predation strategies for prey capture. Flow fields are generated by their tentacles and nonmotile prey are easily ingested as they are directed towards the manubrium. Ambush capture is achieved by triggering quick tentacle contractions upon direct contact to move prey towards the manubrium.

References

Rhopalonematidae Cnidarians of the Atlantic Ocean Cnidarians of the Indian Ocean Cnidarians of the Pacific Ocean Animals described in 1810 Taxa named by Charles Alexandre Lesueur Taxa named by François Péron {{hydrozoa-stub