Investigations into the Nutritional Composition of Captive Reared Moon Jellyfish, Aurelia aurita

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Investigations into the Nutritional Composition
of Captive Reared Moon Jellyfish, Aurelia aurita
Marnie Gabrielle Rackmill Columbia University
CERC Mentor Ellen Dierenfeld, Ph.D, CNS
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The Moon Jelly Aurelia aurita
Moon Jellies are one of the most commonly studied
and reared jellies, occurring almost worldwide
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Zootrition?
Zoo diets are often completely different from
wild diets, in terms of both species composition
and nutritional value.

• Frozen foods often lose essential nutrients such
  as Thiamin and Vitamin E
• Animals may be offered a more limited selection
  of foods to eat, changing their dietary intake
• As a result nutritional deficiencies may occur

• Zoo nutrition
• A more correct nutrient balance that takes into
  account health, maintenance, growth, and
  reproductive requirements.
• Cost effectiveness
• Is a preventative mechanism

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The Project Compare the nutritional composition
of New York Aquarium cultured and wild A. aurita,
and to study their diets.
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• Hypothesis
• Aquarium reared A. aurita are being fed a diet
  which is not comparable to wild A. aurita diets
• Looking good does not equal being healthy
• Do we really know how a jellyfish should look?
• The Experiment
• Analyzed wild caught and aquarium reared
  Aurelia, brine shrimp, cyclopeeze, and the
  capelin mix for
• crude protein fat carbohydrate
• vitamin e and a activity
• as a percent of dry matter

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• Results
• Captive jellies broke apart during the freezing
  process while wild jellies did not.
• Captive jellies were a pinker color, both before
  and after freeze drying.
• Upon handling, captive jellies were slimier than
  wild jellies
• Captive jellies stung more than wild jellies
• Captive jellies developed gonads at a much
  smaller size (3cm diameter) than wild jellies

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Overall Captive A. aurita had half the protein
and twice the fat of wild A. aurita. We may be
overfeeding some nutrients and underfeeding others
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• Are all differences necessarily due to what they
  are fed?
• Alternative Hypothesis Differences in
  nutritional composition are due to differences in
  the water column
• Salinity
• Dissolved Organic Matter
• Microorganisms not filtered out of aquarium
  water
• Density of jellyfish in close proximity

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• Recommendations
• Ex situ growth trials using a more
  proteinaceous, less fatty diet
• Determine composition of wild A. aurita during
  different seasons and at different depths
• Compare different aquarium diets
• Analyze water samples to determine nutritional
  composition
• This was just a preliminary study we dont even
  know what is really healthy and what isnt

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• Implications
• Health
• Longevity
• Cost of diet and cost of obtaining new jellies
• Appearance
• Ability to better house jellies for scientific
  experiments
• Understanding wild jellyfish composition can
  lead to better understanding of their predators
  (eg Leatherback Sea Turtles) needs
• Jellyfish play a major role in regulating
  plankton dynamics
• Jellyfish as invasive species

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Thank You Ellen Dierenfeld, for ongoing advice,
assistance and mentorship Jasmine Thomas and the
WCS lab volunteers for their assistance and
willingness to teach me Amy Messbauer for
lessons in jellyfish husbandry and providing me
with jellies Mike Morgano for taking me
jellyfishing Dave Denardo, Paul Boyle, and NYA
animal department staff for their advice and
assistance Andrew Baker for advice To Angela
Barranco, Bill Hahn, and Don Melnick for their
support