Turritopsis dohrnii: Immortal jellyfish

What on Earth? Immortal jellyfish: the secret to cheating death By Emily Osterloff What most of us would recognise as a jellyfish - the otherworldly, gelatinous aquatic animals renowned for their sting-filled tentacles - is actually just the final stage of these animals' life cycle. At least, it usually is. opens in a new window Not all jellyfish play by the same rules, and one species may have discovered the secret to immortality. How does the immortal jellyfish live forever? The life cycle of most jellyfish species is similar. Museum curator Miranda Lowe explains, 'They have eggs and sperm and these get released to be fertilised, and then from that you get a free-swimming larval form. 'The larva will move about in the current until it finds a hard surface to establish itself. It will then start to mature and grow. Larvae mature into polyps, which will then bud off and mature into young jellyfish.' An adult jellyfish is known as a medusa. Jellyfish belong to a group called Cnidaria, ... Read full article.