Aurelia aurita

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aurelia aurita
Moon jellyfish at Gota Sagher.JPG
Aurelia aurita, Red Sea
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Scyphozoa
Order: Semaeostomeae
Family: Ulmaridae
Genus: Aurelia
Species: A. aurita
Binomial name
Aurelia aurita
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Aurellia flavidula Peron & Lesueur, 1810
Medusa aurita Linnaeus, 1758
Medusa purpurea Pennant, 1777
Aurelia aurita (also called the common jellyfish, moon jellyfish, moon jelly or
saucer jelly) is a species of the genus Aurelia.[1] All species in the genus are
very similar, and it is difficult to identify Aurelia medusae without genetic
sampling;[2] most of what follows applies equally to all species of the genus.

The jellyfish is almost entirely translucent, usually about 25–40 cm (10–16 in) in
diameter, and can be recognized by its four horseshoe-shaped gonads, easily seen
through the top of the bell. It feeds by collecting medusae, plankton, and mollusks
with its tentacles, and bringing them into its body for digestion. It is capable of
only limited motion, and drifts with the current, even when swimming.

Distribution
The species Aurelia aurita is found in the North, Black, Baltic and Caspian Seas,
Northeast Atlantic, Greenland, northeastern USA and Canada, Northwest Pacific and
South America.[2][3][4] In general, Aurelia is an inshore genus that can be found
in estuaries and harbors.[5]

0:22
Moon jellyfish swimming (high resolution)
Aurelia aurita lives in ocean water temperatures ranging from 6–31 °C (43–88 °F);
with optimum temperatures of 9–19 °C (48–66 °F). It prefers temperate seas with
consistent currents. It has been found in waters with salinity as low as 6 parts
per thousand.[6] The relation between summer hypoxia and moon jellyfish
distribution is prominent during the summer months of July and August where
temperatures are high and dissolved oxygen (DO) is low. Of the three environmental
conditions tested, bottom DO has the most significant effect on moon jellyfish
abundance. Moon jellyfish abundance is the highest when bottom dissolved oxygen
concentration is lower than 2.0 mg L−1.[7] Moon jellyfish show a strong tolerance
to low DO conditions, which is why their population is still relatively high during
the summer. Generally, hypoxia causes species to move from the oxygen depleted
zone, but this is not the case for the moon jellyfish. Furthermore, bell contract
rate, which indicates moon jellyfish feeding activity, remains constant although DO
concentrations are lower than normal.[7] During July and August, it is observed
that moon jellyfish aggregations of 250 individuals consumed an estimated 100% of
the mesozooplankton biomass in the Seto Inland Sea.[8] Other major fish predators
that are also present in these coastal waters do not seem to show the same high
tolerance to low DO concentrations that the moon jellyfish exhibit. The feeding and
predatory performance of these fish significantly decreases when DO concentrations
are so low. This allows for less competition between the moon jellyfish and other
fish predators for zooplankton. Low DO concentrations in coastal waters such as
Tokyo Bay in Japan and the Seto Inland Sea prove to be advantageous for the moon
jellyfish in terms of feeding, growth, and survival.

Feeding
Aurelia aurita and other Aurelia species feed on plankton that includes organisms
such as mollusks, crustaceans, tunicate larvae, rotifers, young polychaetes,
protozoans, diatoms, eggs, fish eggs, and other small organisms. Occasionally, they
are also seen feeding on gelatinous zooplankton such as hydromedusae and
ctenophores.[6] Both the adult medusae and larvae of Aurelia have nematocysts to
capture prey and to protect themselves from predators.

The food is caught with its nematocyst-laden tentacles, tied with mucus, brought to
the gastrovascular cavity, and passed into the cavity by ciliated action. There,
digestive enzymes from serous cells break down the food. Little is known about the
requirements for particular vitamins and minerals, but due to the presence of some
digestive enzymes, we can deduce in general that A. aurita can process
carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids.[9]

Body system

Aurelia with an anomalous number of gonads — most have four.[5]

Aurelia does not have respiratory parts such as gills, lungs, or trachea; it
respires by diffusing oxygen from water through the thin membrane covering its
body. Within the gastrovascular cavity, low oxygenated water can be expelled and
high oxygenated water can come in by ciliated action, thus increasing the diffusion
of oxygen through the cell.[10] The large surface area membrane to volume ratio
helps Aurelia diffuse more oxygen and nutrients into the cells.

The basic body plan of Aurelia consists of several parts. The animal lacks
respiratory, excretory, and circulatory systems. The adult medusa of Aurelia, with
a transparent look, has an umbrella margin membrane and tentacles that are attached
to the bottom.[5] It has four bright gonads that are under the stomach.[5] Food
travels through the muscular manubrium while the radial canals help disperse the
food.[5] There is a middle layer of mesoglea, a gastrodervascular cavity with a
gastrodermis, and an epidermis.[11] There is a nerve net that is responsible for
contractions in swimming muscles and feeding responses.[9] Adult medusae can have
diameters up to 40 cm (16 in).[9]

The medusae are either male or female.[9] The young larval stage, a planula, has
small ciliated cells and after swimming freely in the plankton for a day or more,
settles on an appropriate substrate, where it changes into a special type of polyp
called a "scyphistoma", which divides by strobilation into small ephyrae that swim
off to grow up as medusae.[12][13] There is an increasing size from starting stage
planula to ephyra, from less than 1 mm in the planula stage, up to about 1 cm in
ephyra stage, and then to several cm in diameter in the medusa stage.[5]
A recent study has found that A. aurita are capable of life cycle reversal where
individuals grow younger instead of older, akin to the "immortal jellyfish"
Turritopsis dohrnii.[14]

There has been a study presenting that Aurelia's body system isn't significantly
affected by artificial materials like microbeads, which can be found in cosmetic
and personal care products. Aurelia aurita was able to recognize that microbeads
were not food so there wasn't any physiological or histological harm.[15]

Predators

Three moon jellies captured by a lion's mane jellyfish

Aurelia aurita have high proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids comparative to
other prey types which provides vital nutritions to predators.[16] Aurelia aurita
are known to be eaten by a wide variety of predators, including the ocean sunfish
(Mola mola), the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), the scyphomedusa
Phacellophora camtschatica,[17][18] and a very large hydromedusa (Aequorea
victoria).[9] Recently it was reported from the Red Sea that Aurelia aurita was
seasonally preyed upon by two herbivorous fish.[19] Moon jellies are also fed upon
by sea birds, which may be more interested in the amphipods and other small
arthropods that frequent the bells of Aurelia, but in any case, birds do some
substantial amount of damage to these jellyfish that often are found just at the
surface of bays. A. aurita has been suggested to have high mortality during the
ephyra stage, which potentially affects the population size of the later medusa
stage. While the main cause remains unknown, it is believed that they are consumed
by one of three potential predatory filter-feeding sessile organisms: mussels,
ascidians, and barnacles.

Aurelia jellyfish naturally die after living and reproducing for several months. It
is probably rare for these moon jellies to live more than about six months in the
wild, although specimens cared for in public aquarium exhibits typically live
several to many years. In the wild, the warm water at the end of summer combines
with exhaustive daily reproduction and lower natural levels of food for tissue
repair, leaving these jellyfish more susceptible to bacterial and other disease
problems that likely lead to the demise of most individuals. Such problems are
responsible for the demise of many smaller species of jellyfish.[20] In 1997, Arai
summarized that seasonal reproduction leaves the gonads open to infection and
degradation.[9]

Some metazoan parasites attack Aurelia aurita, as well as most other species of
jellyfish.[9]

Gallery
Aurelia aurita in the Pairi Daiza aquarium, Belgium.
Aurelia aurita in the Pairi Daiza aquarium, Belgium.

Aurelia sp. from the Monterey Bay Aquarium

Aurelia sp. from the Monterey Bay Aquarium

A damaged Aurelia sp. individual

A damaged Aurelia sp. individual

An adult Aurelia aurita

An adult Aurelia aurita
On the beach
On the beach

Ecomare - oorkwal (oorkwal-7-pk).jpg

Aurelia aurite washed up on the beach, Jūrmala

Aurelia aurite washed up on the beach, Jūrmala

References
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André C. (2021-09-09). "The importance of molecular characters when morphological
variability hinders diagnosability: systematics of the moon jellyfish genus Aurelia
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