Question

I NEED HELP

Describe the life cycle of a jellyfish. Make sure to use the words polyp and medusa.

Answer 1

Some cnidarians are single organisms; whereas, others are colonial. Jellyfish can reproduce either asexually, by budding, or sexually. The polyp stage is anchored to the ocean bottom. As the polyp grows, it produces saucer-shaped medusae that break away from it. These medusae swim freely and feed by catching small organisms. Jellyfish spend most of their lives as a medusa. Medusae are either male or female.

Answer 2

When jellyfish are attached to coastal reefs they have a stalked (polyp) phase and a jellyfish (medusa) phase, when they float among the plankton. The jellyfish eggs are fertilized internally and develop into free-swimming planula larvae during the medusa stage. The medusa stage is the reproductive stage. The larvae will then settle on the sea floor after a brief period of floating around the water surface. The larvae will attach themselves at one end, there they then develop into polyps and grow. During the months of spring, some of the polyps will start to bud off immature jellyfish also knows as ephyra larvae. They then grow into mature jellyfish. :)