Facts about Immortal Jellyfish
- 06
A sexually mature adult immortal jellyfish can revert to its polyp stage when exposed to stressors such as starvation, injury, or aging.
- 05
Accidental spread via ship ballast water has allowed Turritopsis dohrnii to establish populations in oceans far beyond its original Mediterranean range.
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Scientifically described as Turritopsis dohrnii, this immortal jellyfish is a tiny marine organism, measuring only a few millimeters in diameter when fully mature.
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Transdifferentiation in the immortal jellyfish allows fully differentiated cells to transform into entirely different cell types, a remarkably rare capability in the animal kingdom.
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Native to the Mediterranean Sea, Turritopsis dohrnii is considered biologically immortal because it can bypass death by reverting to its earliest life stage repeatedly.
- 01
The immortal jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii, can revert from its adult medusa stage back to a juvenile polyp stage through a process called transdifferentiation.