#4916 · 🪼 jellyfish, starfish, worms & co
Common Freshwater Jellyfish
🇳🇱 Zoetwaterkwal ·Craspedacusta sowerbii
📍 Prospect Lake, Saanich, BC, CA
📍 Hocking County, OH, USA
📍 中国浙江省丽水市莲都区白云山
📍 Hunterville, Hunterville, Manawatu-Wanganui, NZ
📍 Nez Perce County, ID, USA
📍 Fish Hatchery 20, Fort Worth, TX, US
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © domindo · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © Павлик Лисицын · CC BY 4.0
- 3. © OggioniAle · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 4. © carnifex · CC BY 4.0
- 5. Prospect Lake, Saanich, BC, CA:© Stephanie Weinstein · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. Hocking County, OH, USA:© Nate Hawkins · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. 中国浙江省丽水市莲都区白云山:© CC黎明 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 8. Hunterville, Hunterville, Manawatu-Wanganui, NZ:© Zoe Anthony Quested · CC BY 4.0
- 9. Nez Perce County, ID, USA:© Frank Wilhelm · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. Fish Hatchery 20, Fort Worth, TX, US:© griff · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
Craspedacusta sowerbii is a freshwater jellyfish in the phylum Cnidaria. Since it is classified as a hydrozoan, it is one of many jellyfish that are also known as hydromedusae. Hydromedusan jellyfish differ from scyphozoan jellyfish because they have a muscular, shelf-like structure called a velum on the ventral surface, attached to the bell margin. Originally from the Yangtze basin in China, C. sowerbii is an invasive species now found throughout the world in bodies of fresh...
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 12 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
- 674 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by Ray Lankester in 1880 (146 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Common Freshwater Jellyfish
- Nederlands
- Zoetwaterkwal
- scientific name
- Craspedacusta sowerbii
- class
- Hydrozoa
- order
- Limnomedusae
- family
- Olindiidae
- sightings in NL
- 12
- sightings in Europe
- 222
- sightings worldwide
- 674
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1880 by Ray Lankester
relatives· Olindiidae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 208528, Wikidata Q50407653, GBIF 2266729, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.