After we took the photo we send it to Marco Faasse (a marine biologist) and asked him if he could identify the species. He couldn't but gave us and address of a specialist from Japan. She couldn't tell us the exact name either but send us an address from somebody in Austria. It turned out that this was the of the author of the little animal.
In 1966 he gave this animal its name, after collecting larvae from sand samples from the Mediterranean sea ands studying them in tanks. Several searches to find this stalked jelly in its natural environment, failed. Dr. Luitfried von Salvini-Plawen was very enthusiastic about the picture and published the following document. Publ Stylocoronella.pdf
Size
Maximum size is about 25 mm.
Colour
The animal is transparent till white, the reproductive organs are reddish at the females and white at males.
Habitat
Can be found on course are gravel floors, at a depth between 4 and 10 metres.
Distribution
Larvae are found in the Mediterranean sea all along the French coast.
