Aurelia in NC

I never ID Aurelia to species because it's known to be difficult to ID without genetic sampling and I’m hesitant to make anything Research Grade if I’m not certain . But someone studying jellies ID’d an NC moon jelly observation as A. marginalis and I wondered if there was a way to ID Aurelia based on location alone and decided to write down my notes for moon jellies on here as well.

In 2009 Calder said A. aurita is boreal and only found north of Delaware and A. marginalis is found from Delaware to Florida.

But this paper from 2021 (which cites Calder, 2009) says the distribution of A. marginalis is the Gulf of Mexico and A. aurita can be found in Northeastern USA. North Carolina is uniquely situated at the base of the Labrador current as well as along the Gulf stream so we often have high biodiversity of species from each direction so I'm reluctant to say A. aurita can't be found here.

WoRMS also shows A. marginalis limited to the Gulf of Mexico

WoRMS also says A. aurita's distribution in the Northwest Atlantic is inaccurate ("Taxon was cited for this area but it is clear that it does not live there") and seems to only show it present in the Gulf of St Lawrence so I'm as lost as ever for my favorite jellies, which is my favorite place to be! It’s fun following these mysterious ocean creatures as we unravel all their mysteries!

Posted on December 11, 2022 07:20 PM by aureleah_aurita