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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: "Immortal" Jellyfish Swarm World's Oceans


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Turritopsis dohrnii, a potentially "immortal" jellyfish species that can age backward, is silently invading the world's oceans, a June 2008 study says.

When stressed, the tiny jellyfish's cells transform, returning the animal to its youthful polyp state (inset). Attached to the seafloor or another hard surface, the jellyfish polyp can spawn hundreds of jellyfish that are genetically identical to it.

Photographs courtesy Stefano Piraino (inset) and Maria Pia Miglietta