Turritopsis dohrnii

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Turritopsis dohrnii, commonly known as the immortal jellyfish, is a species of small, biologically immortal Medusozoa (jellyfish) found worldwide in temperate to tropic waters. It is one of the few known cases of an animal capable of completely reverting to a sexually immature, sedentary polyps colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary individual. Like most other hydrozoans, T. dohrnii begin their lives as tiny, free-swimming larvae known as planulae. As a planula settles down, it gives rise to a colony of polyps that are attached to the sea floor. All the polyps and medusa arising from a single planula are clones. The polyps form into an extensively branched form, which is not commonly seen in most jellyfish. Jellyfish, also known as medusae, then bud off these polyps and continue their life in a free-swimming form, eventually becoming sexually mature. When sexually mature, they are known to prey on other jellyfish species at a rapid pace. If the T. dohrnii jellyfish...

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