#4850 · 🪼 jellyfish, starfish, worms & co
Common Moon Jelly
🇳🇱 Oorkwal ·Aurelia aurita
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Bianca Bahlert · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Tony Gilbert · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Stefan · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Floyd A. Reed · CC BY 4.0
- 5. © Stefan · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © mfeaver · CC BY 4.0
- 7. © Micha Baum · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 8. © Pierre Corbrion · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. © mfeaver · CC BY 4.0
- 10. © A H · CC BY 4.0
what is it?
Aurelia aurita (also called the common jellyfish , moon jellyfish , moon jelly , or saucer jelly ) is a widely studied species of the genus Aurelia . 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 most common method used to identify the species consists of selecting a jellyfish from a harbour using a device, usually a...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 512 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #4 most seen of the jellyfish, starfish, worms & co in NL.
- 11,251 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Common Moon Jelly
- Nederlands
- Oorkwal
- scientific name
- Aurelia aurita
- class
- Scyphozoa
- order
- Semaeostomeae
- family
- Ulmaridae
- sightings in NL
- 512
- sightings in Europe
- 6,796
- sightings worldwide
- 11,251
- GBIF records in NL
- 34,337
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
relatives· Ulmaridae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 48328, Wikidata Q26864, GBIF 2264442, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.