Turritopsis Nutricula an Immortal Jellyfish

The world's only immortal animal

The turritopsis nutricula species of jellyfish may be the only animal in the world to have truly discovered the fountain of youth.

Since it is capable of cycling from a mature adult stage to an immature polyp stage and back again, there may be no natural limit to its life span. Scientists say the hydrozoan jellyfish is the only known animal that can repeatedly turn back the hands of time and revert to its polyp state (its first stage of life).

Collected from: The world's only immortal animal | Yahoo! Green

Turritopsis nutricula

Turritopsis nutricula or immortal jellyfish is a hydrozoan whose medusa, or jellyfish, form can revert to the polyp stage after becoming sexually mature. It is the only known case of a metazoan capable of reverting completely to a sexually immature, colonial stage after having reached sexual maturity as a solitary stage.^[2][3] It does this through the cell development process of transdifferentiation. Cell transdifferentiation is when the jellyfish "alters the differentiated state of the cell and transforms it into a new cell. In this process the medusa of the immortal jellyfish is transformed into the polyps of a new polyp colony. First, the umbrella reverts itself and then the tentacles and mesoglea get resorbed. The reverted medusa then attaches itself to the substrate by the end that had been at the opposite end of the umbrella and starts giving rise to new polyps to form the new colony. Theoretically, this process can go on infinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish immortal." ^[3][4] This cycle can repeat indefinitely, rendering it biologically immortal,^[4] although in nature, most Turritopsis, like other medusae, are likely to succumb to predation or disease in the plankton stage, without reverting to the polyp form.^[5]

Collected from: Turritopsis nutricula - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photo: "Immortal" Jellyfish Swarm World's Oceans

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.

Collected from: Photo: "Immortal" Jellyfish Swarm World's Oceans

Collected from: Plate IV — Fig. 17

Turritopsis nutricula

Collected from: YouTube - Turritopsis nutricula

Sources

The world's only immortal animal | Yahoo! Green
http://green.yahoo.com/blog/guest_bloggers/26/the-world-s-only-immortal-animal.html
Turritopsis nutricula - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula
Photo: "Immortal" Jellyfish Swarm World's Oceans
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/83760413.html
Plate IV — Fig. 17
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/Bio05Tuat02-fig-Bio05Tuat02_073a.html
YouTube - Turritopsis nutricula
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB19mhrU1U4

Related

'Immortal' jellyfish swarming across the world - Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/4357829/Immortal-jellyfish-swarming-across-the-world.html
Turritopsis nutricula: the world's only 'immortal' creature - Times Online
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article5594539.ece
The Curious Case of the Immortal Jellyfish | Discoblog | Discover Magazine
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/01/29/the-curious-case-of-the-immortal-jellyfish/
The Only Immortal Animal on Earth
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/only-immortal-animal-on-earth/20087
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/Bio05Tuat02-fig-Bio05Tuat02_073a.html
Jellyfish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jellyfish
Sea Notes: An Immortal Jellyfish?
http://montereybayaquarium.typepad.com/sea_notes/2010/02/an-immortal-jellyfish.html
Turritopsis nutricula (Immortal jellyfish)
http://www.jellyfishfacts.net/turritopsis-nutricula-immortal-jellyfish.html

Oceans Are Dying

As a result of pollution and overfishing some of the advanced forms of ocean life are struggling to survive while the most primitive are thriving and spreading: algae, bacteria and jellyfish are growing unchecked. This 'rise of slime' is killing larger species and sickening people.

Clipped from: Our Oceans Are Dying and We're At Fault : TreeHugger

The Los Angeles Times report this morning on the state of the oceans sounds like something out of a horror movie - fishermen come in contact with a spongy weed, only to break out into a painful rash that won't go away and literally peels your skin off. Get a drop in your mouth and your tongue swells so much you can't eat for a week. Scientists in labs can't be in the same room with it, the smell is so pungent. Only the problem is that this is for real and happening more and more often in coastal areas around the world. We are putting too much food into the oceans, scientists say, and now the oceans are reverting back to primeval seas of millions and even billions of years ago."

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Clipped from: A Primeval Tide of Toxins - Los Angeles Times: "California | Local

A Primeval Tide of Toxins

Runoff from modern life is feeding an explosion of primitive organisms. This 'rise of slime,' as one scientist calls it, is killing larger species and sickening people.


MORETON BAY, AUSTRALIA -- The fireweed began each spring as tufts of hairy growth and spread across the seafloor fast enough to cover a football field in an hour.

When fishermen touched it, their skin broke out in searing welts. Their lips blistered and peeled. Their eyes burned and swelled shut. Water that splashed from their nets spread the inflammation to their legs and torsos.

'It comes up like little boils,' said Randolph Van Dyk, a fisherman whose powerful legs are pocked with scars. 'At nighttime, you can feel them burning. I tried everything to get rid of them. Nothing worked.'"

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Clipped from: Ocean “Dead Zones” Increasing: 400 Oxygen-Deprived Areas Now Exist : TreeHugger

Dead Zones Have Doubled Every 10 Years Since 1960s

According to the study, the number of marine dead zones—areas which are periodically or permanently starved of oxygen—has doubled every 10 years since the 1960s, with those along coastlines increasing in size and intensity. Currently there are about 400 coastal areas, with a combined area larger than the size of Oregon, with such poor water quality, with so little oxygen that only microbes can survive in it. Fish and crustaceans must flee the area or die.

marine dead zones map image
Map showing partial number of current marine dead zones: Dr Robert Diaz/NASA"

Related:
Our Oceans Are Dying and We're At Fault : TreeHugger
A Primeval Tide of Toxins - Los Angeles Times
Ocean “Dead Zones” Increasing: 400 Oxygen-Deprived Areas Now Exist : TreeHugger
:: :: SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, UC SAN DIEGO :: ::
:: CENTER FOR MARINE BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION : SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY, UC SAN DIEGO ::

The Aquapict LED Jellyfish Aquarium (video)

clipped from www.kilian-nakamura.com Made with highly-realistic silicone, the Aquapict jellyfish swim and change color subtly with the five-color LED lighting system (red, yellow, green, blue, and purple). They move by a slow current created in the tank that does not have an obvious flow or bubbles that make it look fake. It looks unbelievably real and beautiful! Aquapict is perfect for bedrooms, desks, offices, restaurants, or anywhere people like to relax.