User:Chandlerworks23/Aurelia limbata

Lead
Aurelia limbata, the brown-banded moon jelly, is a type of moon jelly ranging from various places throughout the Pacific Ocean. Specifically they can be found near Korea, Japan, Okhotsk Sea, Alaska, and the Bering sea. This type of moon jelly prefers cold waters. This species of moon jelly is an epipelagic species, they prefer polar seas below the 70° N. This species used to identify as A. aurita, but now it is its own species. They are different from A. aurita because they are larger, they have a 16 scalloped umbrella and are a chocolate brown color. Brown moon jellies have 8 rhopalia (sensory structures) and numerous thin and long tentacles. Larval decapods are the basic prey of brown-banded moon jellies. The diameter of these medusae are 25-30cm.

Lifestyle
A. limbata is in the genus Aurelia which has the common name of moon jellies. Aurelia is the most common and widely distributed species of jellyfish. Usually the genus Aurelia are not in deeper waters, but the brown banded jelly prefers deeper waters and are highly active. Typically Aurelia does their vertical migrations at dusk.

This specific type of moon jelly has mostly only been found in Asian Pacific waters and close to Alaska. A. limbata is a polar species whereas its cousin A. aurita is common in nearshore waters. A. aurita is the closest relative to A. limbata, because they have a similar gene orientation and they have the same life cycle A couple unique characteristics stand out about this species such as having a cup-like calyx and being manipulated and ingested by ophiuroids (big group of echinoderms). Not much is known about their reproduction, due to them being at such deep depths, but they are known to reproduce asexually. A. limbata swims against the current with an obliquely upward direction of its aboral surface with individuals swimming vigorously with strong bell contractions. A. limbata may be a color morph of its cousin Aurelia labiata. A. limbata have temperature dependent metabolism. A. limbata medusae are observed in the benthopelagic layer, they can be collected with a bottom trawl net and this is where they tend to aggregate. Their mass aggregations tend to be from spring to fall. These brown-banded moon jellies are known to have a bell diameter of 30cm. Most of the female A. limbata had planulae that resembled a golden yellow color and were located in brood pouches on oral arms. Strobilation can be induced by length of low temperature period and strobilate throughout the year in low temperatures.