They have a generally trumpet-shaped body, oriented upside-down in comparison with other jellyfish, with the tentacles projecting upwards, and the stalk located in the centre of the umbrella.

However, there are a few known species that inhabit tropical and subtropical waters as referenced in the Stauromedusae article by Claudia E. Mills and Yayoi M. Hirano.

Sexually mature stauromedusae free-spawn eggs or sperm, which fertilize in the sea and form a creeping, unciliated planula larva.

Unlike most scyphozoan jellyfish that practice strobilation, or the process of dividing themselves into body segments, which become new individuals, nearly all stauromedusae develop directly into the adult form.

Its primary source of food is small organisms, such as copepods, chironomid fly larvae, podocopid ostracods, amphipods, etc.