The Jellyfish That Never Dies
By: EjazUlHaqBhat
Image: Unsplash
The immortal jellyfish is a species of jellyfish that can revert to an earlier developmental stage if it's injured or threatened
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When the jellyfish is damaged or stressed, it shrinks in on itself, reabsorbs its tentacles, and settles on the seafloor as a cyst
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After 24-36 hours, the cyst develops into a polyp, the jellyfish's previous life stage
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The polyp then matures and buds off medusae, the classic jellyfish with a bell-shaped body and tentacles
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The immortal jellyfish was first discovered in the Mediterranean Sea in the 1880s
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The immortal jellyfish is only about 4.5 millimeters across when fully grown
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The immortal jellyfish has two forms: the medusa, the classic jellyfish, and the polyp, the baby form of the jellyfish
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The process of the immortal jellyfish reverting to an earlier developmental stage is called transdifferentiation, and it's extremely rare
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