Aurelia aurita
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Aurelia aurita
Moon jelly, or Aurelia aurita, are probably the most common and widely recognized type of jellyfish. They can be found in the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific Oceans near the coasts. The jellyfish is translucent and can be recognized by its four horseshoe-shaped gonads, easily seen through the top of the bell. It is capable of only limited motion, and drifts with the current, even when swimming.
Life Cycle
Aurelia aurita has two main stages in its life cycle – the polyp stage (asexual reproduction) and the medusa stage (sexual reproduction). A mature polyp reproduces asexually, known as budding forming an entire colony of polyps. Polyps specializing in reproduction produce ephyra (small medusae) by budding. The medusae swim off and mature. They then reproduce sexually. From the egg and the sperm of two medusae, a zygote is formed. The zygote develops into a planula (larva). The planula larva leaves the adult medusae, finds a shaded surface, and attaches itself to it. The planula eventually develops into a new polyp, and the life cycle of the Aurelia aurita starts again.
Aurelia aurita life cycle
Feeding
A. aurita and other Aurelia species is carnivorous and feeds on plankton. Their primary foods include small plankton organisms such as mollusks, crustaceans, tunicate larvae, copepods, rotifers, nematods, young polychaetes, protozoans, diatoms, and eggs. They are also sometimes observed to eat small hydromedusae and ctenophores. 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
Question
1. Is it endangered animals? How many Aurelia aurita population in this world?
2.
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