Species Fact Profile: Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)

Moon Jellyfish (Common Jellyfish, Moon Jelly, Saucer Jelly)

Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus, 1758)

Range: Worldwide
Habitat: Coastal Waters, Estuaries
Diet: Plankton, Mollusks, Crustaceans, Worms
Social Grouping: Asocial, but may gather in large congregations
Reproduction: Fertilized eggs are placed in pockets of the arms that surround the mouth.  Larvae are released in the fall, settling down and developing into small sedentary organisms which in turn develop into small, free-swimming jellies.  Reach maturity at about three months old.
Lifespan: 1 Year
Conservation Status: Not Evaluated

• Saucer-shaped body is translucent and colorless, except for four or five violet spots (the gonads) at the center of the disk.  Grows to a diameter of 25-40 centimeters
• Swim by pulsating the bell-shaped upper-part of the body; primary purpose of swimming is to maintain position near the surface of the water, rather than to move through the water
• Prey is captured in the mucous-coated tentacles, then passed up to the mouth (which also functions as they anus)
• Predators include sunfish and sea turtles; may also be preyed upon by birds which are after the arthropods living in the bells of the jellyfish, but which may kill or injure the jellyfish in the process
• Have a high tolerance for water with low concentration of dissolved oxygen, which helps explain why their numbers appear to be so high in the summer months.  One of the most common, persistently-occurring species in polluted waters.