Invertebrate of Choice: Moon Jellyfish

Aurelia aurita, or more commonly known as moon jellies, are part of the cnidaria phyla. It is a part of the Animalia Kingdom, in the genus Aurelia, and in the class Scyphozoa. Moon jellies are one of the widely studied species of the genus Aurelia. Aurelia aurita live in ocean water temperatures ranging from 6 to 31 degrees Celsius. Moon jellyfish distribution is during the months of July and August where temperatures are high and dissolved oxygen is low. They mainly feed on plankton that includes organisms such as mollusks, crustaceans, and other small organisms. They do not have respiratory parts such as gills, lungs, or trachea. They also don't have excretory or circulatory systems. Their main predators are ocean sunfish and leather back sea turtles, but they are also hunted by a few herbivorous fish. Something unique about this species is that they are capable of lifecycle reversal. This means that instead of growing older, they grow younger. Because of this, Aurelia aurita are nicknamed the "immortal jellyfish."A question that I have is will humans ever be capable of lifecycle reversal. I can relate this to our vodcast when we learned about all the different invertebrates.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurelia_aurita)