Jellyfish Lake, Eil Malk Island, Palau, Pacific Ocean

The moon jellyfish were identified as Aurelia aurita by Hamner. However, since the release of that report in 1981, genetic testing has been done on specimens of Aurelia collected from locations throughout the world. The results of that testing indicate in addition to the three named species of Aurelia there are at least six other cryptic species in the Aurelia genus. Three of the cryptic species identified were from Palau. One of these cryptic species is common to four of Palau's marine lakes with jellyfish populations including Jellyfish Lake. Hence, the most accurate designation for the moon jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake (as of February 2001) is Aurelia sp. Despite the close proximity of Palau's moon jellyfish cryptic species, Dawson and Jacobs stated that the molecular data suggested that they had not interbred for millions of years.
Jellyfish die-off