Turritopsis Nutricula

The Turritopsis Nutricula is a jelly fish. Founded in 1883 in the Mediterranean sea. Have been called many different names because of one special ability it posses. What is this ability? Well it is able to convert its form back to a "birth-state". Which allows it to, what some people would say... Live forever.

So the process it goes through to become "born" again. The mature cells convert into a form called polyps. (polyps, I tried to research them for more information but i mainly got the wrong kind. What I did seem to find is that they are egg shaped creatures that reproduce asexually. In this step of the process the cells are immature.) After the jellyfish starts this process, the mature cells it still contains start to die off and get absorbed into the polyps. So pretty much it starts eating itself. After that process the polyp produces a Medusa. (Medusa is a free-swimming coelenterate.) So in simplified terms. The jellyfish at a mature age (ONLY a mature age. The jellyfish cannot do this without being mature.) turns into a earlier form of itself and devours itself. Then converts back into a jellyfish form.
The process known as "transdifferentiation"

So does it die?

Yes, indeed it does die. This is because as i mentioned above the process to do all that it needs to be a mature jellyfish. Which means anything but an attacker could get to it. However it does not really need to much food while mature. Since it can also use the process to avoid hunger. I am assuming just because it will consume itself. No one explained that to well.

Why have you not seen one?

Well these jelly fish only grow up to 5 millimeters, which is not very big at all. Although they are not endangered they are indeed a "rare creature". There population is said to be growing since they have this ability to cheat death.

How many tentacles?

These jellyfish will get tentacles that are roughly 1 millimeter long and an average 90 per adult jelly fish.

Reproduction?

The reproduction they do is the same that any jelly fish would do. So this special ability that they have does not interfere with that.

For sale?

For some reason one of the websites I went to said they are sold in Japan. However rare to catch one for sale, they are not illegal to own or sell. So i guess if you really wanted one, you could go and hunt for a vendor in japan.

Does it Sting?

Well it does indeed still sting, it is still a jellyfish with stingers. So do not go poking them if you manage to find one.

As I mentioned in this blog before this post. I do not know all this information. I had to research it. So here is my work cited

Works Cited

"Immortal Jellyfish: Does It Really Live Forever?" MNN. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.

"Immortal Jellyfish Facts:." Immortal Jellyfish Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.

"Immortal Jellyfish: The Only Known Species Known to Live Forever." Bored Panda RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.

"Immortal Jellyfish (Turritopsis Nutricula) - Biology B Final Project." Immortal Jellyfish (Turritopsis Nutricula) - Biology B Final Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.

"Polyp." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.

"Turritopsis Nutricula - The Immortal Jellyfish." : Facts Hunt. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.

"Turritopsis Nutricula (Immortal Jellyfish)." Jellyfish Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.