Brown-banded moon jelly

Geographic Origin and Biotope: Aurelia limbata is documented in cold waters of the North Pacific. It is a gelatinous water-column animal tied to local conditions that must not be generalized.

Taxonomy and Morphology: WoRMS accepts Aurelia limbata in class Scyphozoa, order Semaeostomeae, family Ulmaridae. It has a disc-shaped bell with oral arms and nematocyst-bearing marginal tentacles.

Social Behaviour: This is not a conventional aquarium community animal: it drifts or swims in the water column, and repeated contact with conspecifics, walls or décor can damage tissue. Any display group needs a density selected by experienced staff.

Colouration and Sexual Dimorphism: Transparency and the features evoked by the common name “Brown-banded moon jelly” aid observation, but color and form vary with life stage, food and lighting. Sex cannot be identified reliably from the medusa's external appearance.

Aquarium Setup: A dedicated kreisel or pseudokreisel without sharp edges is required, with laminar flow that suspends Aurelia limbata without sweeping it against a surface. Intakes, drains and overflows need fine even guards; free bubbles and abrasive décor are excluded. Care remains specialist and normally institutional.

Feeding and Diet: Offer suitably sized live or enriched planktonic prey in frequent small feeds; rotifers, copepods and Artemia nauplii are common professional reference foods. Remove excess promptly without suctioning tissue.

Water Quality: The professional manual gives 32–35 ppt and pH 8–8.4 for most marine medusae; the source population must still be checked. Stability, oxygenation and control of ammonia, nitrite and heavy metals take priority over an undocumented target.

Compatibility and Coexistence: Use a species-only system: fish, crustaceans, corals, anemones and other gelatinous species can prey, be stung, compete for food or cause abrasion. Prevent collisions and crowding even among conspecifics.

Aquarium Breeding: The cycle alternates a planula, benthic polyp and pelagic medusa; polyps, ephyrae or young medusae need separate vessels, flows and foods.

Risks and Disease: The main risk is mechanical damage to tissue made almost entirely of water, followed by starvation, fouled screens and osmotic shock. Nematocysts remain active on detached tentacles; catalog level: mildly-venomous. Avoid contact and maintain the appropriate sting-response protocol.