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On Thursday, April 23, after months of preparation, we placed an adult Chrysaora plocamia, also known as the “South American sea nettle,” in our largest jellyfish tank. It is a new circular system (so-called kreisel aquarium) measuring 450 × 220 × 60 cm, with a total volume of about 6,000 liters, with a very gentle and continuous water flow.
In optimal conditions, C. plocamia can reach impressive dimensions: the cap diameter is usually 50–60 cm, while the total body length with the mouth arms can grow up to 2–3 meters. Rare specimens reach up to 1 meter in cap diameter and a length of more than 3 meters, which makes it one of the largest and most visually impressive jellyfish in aquarium displays.
It is similar in appearance to our “compass jellyfish” (Chrysaora hysoscella), but Chrysaora plocamia is larger, more elegant and lacks the characteristic pattern on its cap. Instead of the radial dark lines that resemble a compass, its body is uniformly colored in warm and less pronounced tones.
We received our C. plocamia polyps from the Schönbrunn Zoo in 2021 and have been successfully maintaining and asexually propagating them since then. In nature, but also in the aquarium, this species lives relatively short: in the medusoid phase, most often about 3 to 6 months, and in exceptionally favorable conditions, somewhat longer
