Moon jelly
- Scientific name
- Aurelia aurita
- Phylum
- Cnidaria
- Class
- Scyphozoa
- Sting-o-meter
- 2/5
Aurelia forms spectacular blooms and occurs in coastal waters throughout the world. They are translucent with four horseshoe-shaped gonads near the centre of their bell. Genetic studies now tell us there are many different species of Moon jelly and that some Moon jellies have invaded foreign waters.
Aurelia can survive in temperatures ranging from about 6–31°C and in salinities ranging from almost fresh to full seawater. They can even thrive in heavily polluted waters containing little oxygen. Moon jellies are relatively easy to keep in aquaria and are probably the world’s most well studied sea jelly.
Polyps of the moon jelly orbited Earth on the SPACE SHUTTLE, COLUMBIA in 1991!
Credit, Denis Riek.
