Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) are a classic staple at public aquariums, famous for their rhythmic pulsation while floating through the water column of large, cylindrical tanks. While Moon Jellies are relatively basic in their demands from a captive aquarium system, the average hobbyist typically struggles to keep them alive. This isn't due to a lack of proper nutrition or water quality, but simply because the standard aquarium is rectangular, resulting in lots of jellies crammed into tight corners or completely destroyed after going through a filter or powerhead.
Enter Jellyfish Art, a Florida-based company that is bringing the ridiculously simple joy of keeping Moon Jellies to thousands of hobbyists each year. Jellyfish Art manufactures specially designed cylindrical aquariums (called kreisels, German for "carousel") without obstructions that keep Moon Jellies suspended in the water column continuously. Usually kreisel tanks are only seen in public aquariums, research laboratories, or in the homes of very advanced hobbyists, but Jellyfish Art's endeavors now make owning an aesthetic display kreisel easier than ever. Eager to learn more about their unique design and what it takes to successfully maintain and reproduce Moon Jellies, UMAC invited Jellyfish Art to come speak at a meeting this fall. Last week, Jellyfish Art came through with an excellent presentation on Moon Jelly life cycles and captive care, plus a few awesome surprises at the end!
Enter Jellyfish Art, a Florida-based company that is bringing the ridiculously simple joy of keeping Moon Jellies to thousands of hobbyists each year. Jellyfish Art manufactures specially designed cylindrical aquariums (called kreisels, German for "carousel") without obstructions that keep Moon Jellies suspended in the water column continuously. Usually kreisel tanks are only seen in public aquariums, research laboratories, or in the homes of very advanced hobbyists, but Jellyfish Art's endeavors now make owning an aesthetic display kreisel easier than ever. Eager to learn more about their unique design and what it takes to successfully maintain and reproduce Moon Jellies, UMAC invited Jellyfish Art to come speak at a meeting this fall. Last week, Jellyfish Art came through with an excellent presentation on Moon Jelly life cycles and captive care, plus a few awesome surprises at the end!
Several of Jellyfish Art's staff drove down to the Coral Gables campus last Thursday (10/23), and UMAC President Kyle David welcomed them to our meeting specially located in Cox 145 for their presentation. After introductions, Joe Turner launched into a detailed presentation that explained the various life stages of Moon Jellies, followed by some photos demonstrating how Jellyfish Art propagates the Moon Jellies that go into the unique display aquariums they manufacture.
Briefly, Moon Jellies undergo a period of both sexual and asexual reproduction during their life cycles, as well as stages in which they are both medusa and polyp forms. Sexual reproduction and fertilization of gametes released by adult Moon Jellyfish results in a planula, which seeks substrate where it attaches and grows into a polyp stage. This polyp stage will grow and divide asexually for a period of up to several months to even years! Eventually, a series of environmental cues (salinity, temperature, photoperiod changes) will induce strobilation from the polyp stage, in which dozens of ephyra are released after having been stacked on top of one another. These ephyra grow and mature into adult Moon Jellies by feeding on plankton, and restart the cycle all over again through sexual reproduction. It's a relatively complex life cycle for such a simple organism!
A rigorous Q&A session followed Joe's in-depth lecture, in which UMAC members probed behind-the-scenes of Jellyfish Art to learn more about what new concepts are on the way from this revolutionary company. We learned about the details of Jellyfish Art's experimentation with Sea Nettle propagation, and also received a great book recommendation for anyone interested in advanced jellyfish propagation (How to Keep Jellyfish in Aquariums: An Introductory Guide by Chad L. Widmer). But the greatest surprise was yet to come! At the conclusion of the meeting, Jellyfish Art donated one of their 6-gallon desktop kreisels to UMAC, completely opening the door to future experimentation and jellyfish care for club members. The system is now up and running on the second floor of the Ungar Building in the Marine Science Offices.
UMAC is extremely indebted to Jellyfish Art for their willingness to support our organization. A special thanks goes to all of the staff of Jellyfish Art who came to campus and gave their time to educate club members in this unforgettable meeting. Don't forget to go check out Jellyfish Art's official website: jellyfishart.com and stay tuned for more UMAC happenings this semester, 'cause we're not even closed to finished yet!
P.S. The kreisel design aquariums that Jellyfish Art produces are kind of a big deal. Their cylindrical shape and gentle flow makes these tanks ideal for keeping all sorts of marine pelagic species, not just Moon Jellyfish. The fact that these systems are now available on a hobby-wide scale is more than impressive, it's potentially revolutionary.
UMAC is extremely indebted to Jellyfish Art for their willingness to support our organization. A special thanks goes to all of the staff of Jellyfish Art who came to campus and gave their time to educate club members in this unforgettable meeting. Don't forget to go check out Jellyfish Art's official website: jellyfishart.com and stay tuned for more UMAC happenings this semester, 'cause we're not even closed to finished yet!
P.S. The kreisel design aquariums that Jellyfish Art produces are kind of a big deal. Their cylindrical shape and gentle flow makes these tanks ideal for keeping all sorts of marine pelagic species, not just Moon Jellyfish. The fact that these systems are now available on a hobby-wide scale is more than impressive, it's potentially revolutionary.