CreatureData

Common jellyfish

Aurelia aurita (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status not recordedjellyfish and corals

The common jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) is a species in the family Ulmaridae, order Semaeostomeae. It has been recorded in 65 countries, most often in United Kingdom, Netherlands and Sweden.

Common jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)
Photo: Credit at source · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the common jellyfish

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Recorded in
65 countriessrc for Recorded in

Photos of the common jellyfish

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Common jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)
Paul VanDerWerf from Brunswick, Maine, USA · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the common jellyfish live?

Countries with openly licensed sighting records on GBIF. This shows where the species has been recorded, including zoos and introduced populations. It is not a definitive range.

The common jellyfish has been recorded in 65 countries, from 16,718 records.

Tanzania: 1 recordCanada: 712 recordsUnited States of America: 1,130 recordsIndonesia: 6 recordsArgentina: 4 recordsChile: 4 recordsDem. Rep. Congo: 2 recordsKenya: 1 recordSudan: 2 recordsRussia: 93 recordsNorway: 984 recordsGreenland: 4 recordsMexico: 10 recordsColombia: 6 recordsHonduras: 1 recordBelize: 4 recordsFrance: 347 recordsPuerto Rico: 2 recordsCuba: 3 recordsIsrael: 110 recordsLebanon: 23 recordsSouth Korea: 9 recordsSweden: 2,341 recordsUkraine: 826 recordsPoland: 91 recordsRomania: 13 recordsLithuania: 29 recordsLatvia: 13 recordsEstonia: 185 recordsGermany: 644 recordsBulgaria: 18 recordsGreece: 5 recordsTurkey: 74 recordsCroatia: 3 recordsBelgium: 178 recordsNetherlands: 3,068 recordsPortugal: 3 recordsSpain: 19 recordsIreland: 811 recordsNew Caledonia: 6 recordsNew Zealand: 3 recordsAustralia: 131 recordsItaly: 2 recordsDenmark: 247 recordsUnited Kingdom: 3,846 recordsIceland: 26 recordsGeorgia: 10 recordsFinland: 412 recordsJapan: 23 recordsEgypt: 46 records
  • None on record
  • 1–9
  • 10–99
  • 100–999
  • 1,000+
records per country · small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same figures as a list, most records first

  1. United Kingdom3,846
  2. Netherlands3,068
  3. Sweden2,341
  4. United States1,130
  5. Norway984
  6. Ukraine826
  7. Ireland811
  8. Canada712
  9. Germany644
  10. Finland412
  11. France347
  12. Denmark247
  13. Estonia185
  14. Belgium178
  15. Australia131
  16. Israel110
  17. Russia93
  18. Poland91
  19. Isle of Man82
  20. Türkiye74
  21. French Guiana58
  22. Egypt46
  23. Lithuania29
  24. Iceland26
  25. Japan23
  26. Lebanon23
  27. Spain19
  28. Bulgaria18
  29. Åland Islands17
  30. Latvia13
  31. Romania13
  32. Georgia10
  33. Mexico10
  34. South Korea9
  35. Colombia6
  36. Indonesia6
  37. Jersey6
  38. New Caledonia6
  39. St. Pierre & Miquelon6
  40. Guadeloupe5
Show 25 more countries
  1. Greece5
  2. Argentina4
  3. Belize4
  4. Chile4
  5. Greenland4
  6. St. Barthélemy3
  7. Cuba3
  8. Croatia3
  9. New Zealand3
  10. Portugal3
  11. Bermuda2
  12. Congo - Kinshasa2
  13. Faroe Islands2
  14. Italy2
  15. Puerto Rico2
  16. Sudan2
  17. Barbados1
  18. Guernsey1
  19. Honduras1
  20. Kenya1
  21. Marshall Islands1
  22. Martinique1
  23. Maldives1
  24. Tonga1
  25. Tanzania1

What is the common jellyfish?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

Aurelia aurita (also called the common jellyfish, moon jellyfish, moon jelly, northern moon jelly or saucer jelly) is a species of true jellyfish in the family Ulmaridae and the type species of its genus, Aurelia. Before the 2020s, the species was considered cosmopolitan, but the taxon has since been split into at least 28 species. The species now identified as A. aurita is only found in the north Atlantic and in Argentina and is not dangerous to humans.

Wikipedia contributors, “Aurelia aurita”, Wikipedia (revision 1383738367), retrieved 2026-11-11. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; this block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the common jellyfish endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the common jellyfish classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumCnidaria
  3. classScyphozoa
  4. orderSemaeostomeae
  5. familyUlmaridae
  6. genusAurelia
  7. SpeciesAurelia aurita (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Aurelia flavidula, Aurellia flavidula, Medusa aurita, Medusa purpurea

Names in other languages (9)
  • OhrenqualleGerman
  • Medusa-da-luaPortuguese
  • oorkwalDutch
  • öronmanetSwedish
  • ミズクラゲJapanese
  • 海月水母Chinese
  • هلام البحر العاديArabic
  • ушастая аурелияRussian
  • méduse communeFrench

GBIFWikidataWikipediaNCBI TaxonomyITISiNaturalistWoRMS

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Where does the common jellyfish live?

The common jellyfish has openly licensed sighting records from 65 countries on GBIF. The most records come from United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, United States and Norway. These are recorded sightings, not a definitive range.

What kind of animal is the common jellyfish?

The common jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) belongs to the family Ulmaridae in the order Semaeostomeae.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Common jellyfish (Aurelia aurita). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-jellyfish

MLA

“Common jellyfish (Aurelia aurita).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-jellyfish.

BibTeX
@misc{common_jellyfish_2026,
  title = {Common jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-jellyfish},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}