The Moon Jelly is found in bays and harbours along the Pacific coastline of North America, from Prince William Sound, Alaska, south to southern California (
Gershwin (2001)). Three morphologically distinctive forms have been identified, and it is possible that the second BC
Aurelia species,
A. limbata, may be "simply a color morph of
A. labiata, or a species within a yet-unelaborated
A. labiata species complex." Gershwin 2001).
The systematics and biogeography of this species are reviewed in detail by Gershwin 2001.