Its range extends from Japan and Taiwan to the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, northern Australia, New Zealand, Micronesia and Hawaii.

On sinking to the seabed soon after dawn it spends a few minutes selecting a good location and preferentially chooses the underside of a coral, stone or blade of seagrass.

Eggs inside the female's bell are fertilised by the sperm, and a mucous strand of embryos is produced and released into the sea some two or three days later.

Its typical feeding mechanism is to rise to the surface and then sink through the water with its tentacles extended to catch prey.

Typical prey items are copepods, hooded shrimps, zoea larvae and the bioluminescent dinoflagellate Noctiluca, all of which are present near the water surface at night.