Humanity has long been in search of the elixir of immortality. The latest scientific data suggests that there is a creature on our beautiful planet that can live forever. This, it would seem, is a long-explored and well-known jellyfish, or rather, a small creature called a nutricula. Want to know how they found the jellyfish that lives forever?
Inconspicuous creatures
Jellyfish nutricules have been known in the scientific world for a long time. For the first time, a description of this creature appeared in the nineteenth century. The reproduction and life cycle of the nutricula is quite ordinary. As with all jellyfish, fertilization of eggs by spermatozoa occurs on the surface of the sea, then the eggs turn into larvae. Then the planula sinks to the bottom and a polyp is formed, from which a tiny jellyfish separates, which lives forever. A photo of these creatures is presented below.
The appearance of the jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula is unremarkable, rather, we can say that this is a miniature creature. It has an umbrella with a diameter of less than 5 mm, which is surrounded by thin tentacles. Newly born jellyfish have only 8 of them, while an adult individual has up to 100 pieces. She also has a cross-shaped red spot,formed in the middle of the umbrella by the digestive organs of the jellyfish. Newborn nutricules are only 1mm in size.
Amazing find
The end of the last century was marked by an amazing discovery. It turns out that jellyfish live forever. The discovery was made by the Italian Fernando Boero. Deciding to clean the aquarium forgotten at the time, the scientist discovered strange polyps. These unusual growths looked like jellyfish that had previously lived in an aquarium, but without tentacles. The scientist decided to continue the experiment, although the rest of the creatures in the aquarium died. Filling it with sea water, Boero began to observe the polyps. After some time, they began to develop, and as a result, tiny nutricule jellyfish were born.
The seemingly impossible has happened - the nutricules have turned the cycle of their own development. Until that time, it was known that all jellyfish have a final stage of development - the phase of reproduction. In most intestinal animals, and not only in them, the birth of fertilized cells or eggs leads to the death of adults. And already young growth appears from them, in jellyfish the larvae turn into polyps, and already small jellyfish are born from them. Boero's discovery reversed all knowledge about jellyfish. So, scientists have found a jellyfish that lives forever.
Life cycle
Representatives of this species, like other types of hydroid organisms, go through 2 stages of development. The first begins with the development of larvae after fertilization of eggs. Then the larvae that have fallen into the free space settle to the bottom.ocean, where they turn into polyps. Thus, whole colonies of jellyfish appear, resembling a spindle or a mace in appearance. At this stage of development, polyps form a kind of skeleton, at the end of which there are tentacles with stinging cells characteristic of jellyfish. So, a whole colony is able to feed on small creatures.
The second stage begins with the separation of young jellyfish from polyps. Thus, small jellyfish begin to lead our usual way of life. In a few months, they reach sexual maturity, and the whole process is repeated anew. How does it happen that jellyfish live forever? Interestingly, jellyfish have additional ways to preserve the species.
Features of jellyfish
The preservation of life is associated with the ability of hydroid creatures to restore processes. It has long been known that jellyfish can restore lost body parts in a short period of time. It has been experimentally proven that a jellyfish cut into pieces is capable of reproducing itself. This recovery process is called transdifferentiation. In fact, one type of cell can develop into another, which means that, theoretically, all jellyfish live forever. However, many other creatures have these abilities as well. Lizards can easily grow a new tail, and scientists today are able to grow individual organs from stem cells.
But the nutricule jellyfish's ability to regenerate its entire body is truly unique. She is capablerepeat the process an infinite number of times and at the same time remain forever young. It was these processes that gave scientists the assumption that jellyfish live forever.
Today, scientists are closely monitoring this species of jellyfish in order to study the rejuvenation process in more detail. On our amazing planet, there are many more creatures unknown to humans who have not yet revealed their secrets.
