📸 PhotoPhoto: Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons Source
Immortal jellyfish
Turritopsis dohrnii (Immortal jellyfish · チチュウカイベニクラゲ)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 The diameter of a full-grown medusa at 3.3 mm is smaller than the length of a grain of rice (about 5–6 mm) (Comparison).
- 💡 First recorded in Naples (Italy), it also has introduced populations living in the Indian River Lagoon in Florida (United States), Panama, and Japan (Smithsonian NEMESIS).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The immortal jellyfish is a tiny jellyfish the size of a grain of rice, living an unusual life in which it reverts back to a polyp under stressful conditions such as starvation.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
The bell of a full-grown medusa is about 2.7 mm high and 3.3 mm in diameter, and the number of tentacles varies by region from 8 to 32.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It is a carnivore that feeds on zooplankton. A starved medusa sinks, turns into a cyst-like mass, and grows into a new polyp so that its life cycle starts over. Polyps live attached to rocks, docks, pilings, and ship hulls.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • marinespecies.org — aphia.php
- • wikidata.org — Q3322541
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:PSM V33 D765 Turritopsis.jpg
- • invasions.si.edu — -502
- • sealifebase.se — Turritopsis-dohrnii.html
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.