The species was discovered in the waters of the Dutch Caribbean islands (then part of the Netherlands Antilles). There have been roughly 70 confirmed sightings since 1989, approximately 45 of which took place in the waters of Bonaire and the rest off the shores of Mexico, St Lucia, Curacao, Barbados, Honduras and St Vincent. The closely related species Tamoya haplonema lives in the waters of Brazil and the south-eastern United States of America. Tamoya ohboya is characterized by a deep stomach, densely spread cnidocysts and banded tentacles whose color ranges from reddish-orange to dark brown. Tamoya ohboya is hard to collect due to its fast swimming and ungregarious nature. Its ecology is still relatively unknown, but it is presumed that it is a daylight predator whose prey includes small crustaceans and fish.
