P. punctata generally can reach up to 50 centimetres (20 in) in bell diameter,[1][2] but in October 2007, one 74 cm (29 in) wide, perhaps the largest ever recorded, was found on Sunset Beach, North Carolina.

Once fertilization occurs and larvae are formed they leave their mother and settle to the ocean floor.

They have also been found in non-native regions such as Western Australia, United States, the Atlantic Basin, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the eastern Mediterranean, Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Fluid flows over clusters of mouthlets near the base of the oral arm disk in the centre of the cylinder.

The feeding process is continuous since the jellyfish must be swimming in order to move the prey to different mouthlets so they can be digested.

[6] The species has been found in the waters off the Hawaiian Islands since at least 1945,[8] in the Mediterranean Sea since at least 1965,[9] and in large numbers in the Gulf of Mexico since 2000.

However, their ability to consume plankton and the eggs and larvae of important fish species is cause for concern.

In North America and Hawaii, its non-native locations are the following: Northern Gulf of Mexico, Southern California, Greater Antilles, Florida, and the Hawaiian Islands.

Along with harming populations in the fisheries, they severely clog the fishnets, damage boat intakes, and ruin fishing gear.