Moon Jellyfish - Aurelia Aurita

Title

Moon Jellyfish - Aurelia Aurita

Artist

Darleen Stry

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Photograph - High Resoloution Photography

Description

This moon jellyfish image was taken at the National Aquarium. The specks you see in the water isn't dust of grain in the image. They are actually miniature shrimp that the jellyfish will eat to survive. Here's some more information about this fantastic sea creature off Wikipedia:
Aurelia aurita (also called the moon jelly, moon jellyfish, common jellyfish, or saucer jelly) is a widely studied species of the genus Aurelia.[1] All species in the genus are closely related, and it is difficult to identify Aurelia medusae without genetic sampling; most of what follows applies equally to all species of the genus.

The medusa is translucent, usually about 25–40 cm 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.
The genus Aurelia is found throughout most of the world's oceans, from the tropics to as far north as latitude 70°N and as far south as 40°S.[2] The species Aurelia aurita is found along the eastern Atlantic coast of Northern Europe and the western Atlantic coast of North America in New England and Eastern Canada.[3][2] In general, Aurelia is an inshore genus that can be found in estuaries and harbors.[4] It lives in ocean water temperatures ranging from 6 °C to 31 °C; with optimum temperatures of 9 °C to 19 °C. A. aurita prefers temperate seas with consistent currents. It has been found in waters with salinity as low as 6 parts per thousand
Aurelia does not have respiratory parts such as gills, lungs, or trachea. Since it is a small organism[clarification needed], 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 cell.[7] The large surface area membrane to volume ratio helps Aurelia to 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.[4] It has four bright gonads that are under the stomach.[4] Food travels through the muscular manubrium while the radial canals help disperse the food.[4] There is a middle layer of mesoglea, gastrodervascular cavity with gastrodermis, and epidermis.[8] There is a nerve net that is responsible for contractions in swimming muscles and feeding responses.[6] Adult medusa can have a diameter up to 40 cm.[6] The medusae are either male or female.[6] 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.[9][10] 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.[4]

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April 7th, 2013

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