Originally from the Yangtze basin in China, C. sowerbii is an introduced species now found throughout the world in bodies of fresh water.

Hanging down from the center of the inside of the bell is a large stomach structure called a manubrium, with a mouth-opening with four frilly lips.

The (usually) four large flat sex organs (gonads) are attached to the four radial canals, and are usually opaque white.

The many tentacles each contain thousands of cells called cnidocytes, which contain nematocysts (also known as cnidocysts), and are used to capture prey and pass it to the mouth.

Since 2008 the freshwater jellyfish have been sighted every September and October in the Zhaojiaya Reservoir near Zhangjiajie, Hunan, China.

[9] On August 21, 2010, C. sowerbii was spotted and captured on the northwest corner of Falcon Lake in Manitoba, Canada.

However, these cnidocyte cells are used for paralyzing very tiny prey and have not been proven to have the capacity to pierce human skin.

[18] C. sowerbii begins life as a tiny polyp, which lives in colonies attached to underwater vegetation, rocks, or tree stumps, feeding and asexually reproducing during spring and summer.

During the cold winter months, polyps contract and enter dormancy as resting bodies called podocysts.