Watch Jellyfish Go Through Their “Stack of Pancakes” Phase | Deep Look

When grown-up jellyfish love each other very much, they make huge numbers of teeny-tiny potato-shaped larvae. Those larvae grow into little polyps that cling to rocks and catch prey with their stinging tentacles. But their best trick is when they clone themselves by morphing into a stack of squirming jellyfish pancakes.
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DEEP LOOK is an ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED in San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.
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There’s a reason the ocean is full of moon jellyfish: They’re masters at multiplying themselves over and over.
The bell-shaped creature that most people think of as jellyfish is really just the animal’s adult form.
It’s hard to tell by looking at them, but there are male and female moon jellies. The males release sperm into the water and the females collect it to fertilize their eggs. Those eggs turn into larvae called planulae that mom sends out into the world.
Each planula larva does its best to settle on something solid -- like rock - and develops into a polyp that looks like a tiny sea anemone.
The polyps clone themselves through budding, in which a new polyp grows out of an existing polyp’s side.
When the conditions are right, the polyps go through another round of cloning called strobilation. They develop ridges along their sides that get more and more pronounced over time.
“The polyp will start to look like a stack of pancakes,” says Michael McGill, senior biologist at Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco.
Each individual pancake, called an ephyra, is a clone that eventually works itself free from the stack and swims off to grow into an adult.
“The feeling of watching them break free and swim off -- it's really inspiring,” says McGill.
--- Do jellyfish have brains?
Jellyfish don’t have a single centralized brain. But that hasn’t stopped them from being successful. They do have a nervous system called a nerve net or nerve ring that is radially distributed throughout their bodies.
--- What do Jellyfish eat?
Most jellyfish are carnivores that eat plankton, small fish, fish eggs and whatever other small prey they can catch with their stinging tentacles.
-- How do jellyfish sting?
Jellyfish have special stinging cells called nematocysts that line their tentacles. If something touches a nematocyst, it will pop, releasing a microscopic harpoon filled with venom. Jellyfish use their nematocyst-laced tentacles to catch prey and deter predators.
---+ Find additional resources and a transcript on KQED Science:
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#jellyfish #deeplook

[@TheBestInsects]

Ok, I had NO idea that jellyfish reproduced like that. I've never heard of animals making babies that multiplied themselves. That is so cool and almost unbelievable! The photography in this video is beautiful! I love you deep look ❤

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you!

[@drachior]

kind of happens to humans too, doesn't it? Albeit rarely. but some families have a disposition for getting identical twins

[@Tinyvalkyrie410]

No this is different. They alternate reproduce via fertilization and cloning. Twins in humans are always created by fertilization, they still have two parents. There are lots of other animals and other organisms that do this though.

[@waterunderthebridge7950]

It’s kinda like an amalgamation of different beings: Ancient plants (think prehistoric ferns) also had two stages of development that are condensed into the same plant nowadays while there are e.g. salamanders and insects that can multiply asexually to increase population but also sexually to maintain genetic variety

[@alestine]

How about Aphids?

[@celarts5752]

Jellies seem so alien, especially with their reproductive tendencies (and even the ones that return to polyp after some time spent in adulthood), they're one of the coolest and most interesting sea creatures imo

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

A fun thought is they've been around for hundreds of millions of years, but we're pretty new... Technically, we're alien and they're standard (from their POV) 😁

[@I_Never_Lie]

You mean everything under the sea? 😂

[@Xenochetemist]

​@@TragoudistrosMPH We have been here from the beginning with them, and they don't have our POV thing. We gained consciousness, not suddenly spawn on Earth.

[@nagari9093]

Respect our older cousin

[@TragoudistrosMPH]

@@Xenochetemist nothing in my comment suggests random spawning or a literal conscious point of view. That's an annoying number of strawman arguments to misattribute and shoot down... 😒

[@zenith9825]

Imagine all the weird alien creatures that sci-fi authors have given us, and all the while, Earth goes: "Oh yeah? Those squishy things with stinging tentacles with no brain? Imagine an entire stack of clones that wiggle free one-by-one. Oh, and those came from clones too. :)"

[@theexchipmunk]

I mean, we are not that much less weird. We are a pile of clones changin themselves to do difernt things that all work together to make a bigger mobile colony. If you look at our cell types it gets wild. Like with Macrophages that are pretty amoeba like and move indipendently around hunting for things not suposed to be there. Or our bones, that are in a way seperate from us, being a latice struture build inside our bodys by specialised cells and colonised by others that reinfoce this latice. Neuronal cells too, did you know that they too can freely move around, again quite amobea like, before they settle down and start to branch out?

[@zenith9825]

@@theexchipmunkThe very fact that we are "mostly" (I believe) not-human is very mind-blowing. By percentage, I've heard that a minority of our cells/biomass is actually our own; the rest is actually just other species inside us. Like, "all your gut bacteria" and all that.

[@JetFalcon710]

​@@zenith9825 Yeah, and if I remember right, around 8% of our genome is made up of various species of bacteria that decided to have a symbiotic relationship with us _(e.g. gut bacteria)_

[@mypal1990]

This jellyfish life cycle makes the story of the stork carrying a baby more wholesome.

[@3takoyakis]

This is a stork cloning itself so it could send another copy of itself into the sky while the 'real' stork stay on the nest

[@meajur]

I've seen illustrations of this for years, but never saw a video of it until now. I am so very happy to have finally seen it.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sailor5853]

Same. Saw it in biology books all the time.

[@ThiagoHenrique-wh7qr]

Same, I feel so happy after seeing it unfold before my eyes.

[@PridefulShadow]

Same here! I have no idea why documentaries like Blue Planet never showed this process before, nor could I find photos of the polyp stage, so thank you for making this video!

[@bob7975]

Sea anemones are perfectly able to move about and even swim, after a fashion. Not well or quickly, but they can do it. They are like jellyfish who decided not to float free through the ocean.

[@JvierLee]

When I was young, whenever I read about Jellyfish reproduction in my Encyclopedia, I was always perplexed on how does it work, it's so strange and fascinating. Thank you for the video on showing how it all works!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

You are most welcome!

[@speziell1575]

It is really weird, a totally sessile animal just starts popping off other, completely different, free swimming animals. Its so weird how a body part just turns into its own organism.

[@tsartomato]

@@speziell1575 you are filled with milliards of freely moving blood cells and immune cells some of which go rogue all the time

[@Cpt_John_Price]

@@speziell1575 I actually assume that they are like babies spawning out of "plants". And their parents are actually making "plants" for the sole purpose of making babies.

[@rugvedkulkarni1593]

Now I understand why it's called jellyfish bloom. It looks like flowers blooming 🌸

[@KQEDDeepLook]

So true!

[@dodiswatchbobobo]

Imagine growing up in a stack of undefined flesh that slowly resolves itself into a pile of babies, and each baby just peels off the mass and tumbles down the pile once it’s fully grown.

[@AstroMarkk]

I had no idea that jellyfish once looked like an anemone!

[@mariobenedicto3582]

I too didn't know that they were related!

[@Khann_2102]

​@@mariobenedicto3582they're related?!

[@nikyu.106]

​@@Khann_2102 Anemones are cnidarians too

[@Khann_2102]

@@nikyu.106 Wow thanks for the info

[@nikyu.106]

@@Khann_2102 Both are classified in the same phylum (Cnidarians). Anemones are classified in the class "Anthozoa" and the subclass "Hexacorallaria" (which also includes corals). Jellyfish are classified in the subphylum "Medusozoa" which contaims a few classes, the most common ones are "Hydrozoa" and "Scyzophozoa"

[@notyesbetothefallssorcerer3272]

Even cloning upon cloning, only the smallest percentage will survive to adulthood. So to deal with predators either consistently be in large groups or good at dodging the ambushes. Man I would think with all those tentacles, they'll just bounce on their adversaries and jump like a jumping jellyfish.

[@danielzvids]

Whenever I see jellyfish I feel like I’m witnessing the first ever footage of extraterrestrial life 😱

[@anthonycredo6623]

I never really thought how jellyfish grow in numbers, it all makes sense now

[@b0gdyb0ta]

For the last time Jimmy, give me the remote! No? Okay, I didn't wanna say this but... you're a clone! Yes, you! And ever since you were a kid you've been... pancaked! That's right, you better leave. Here, let me help push you away!

[@ivy_47]

Zefrank missed a good opportunity with this one!

[@fien2706]

And on top of it, there is a jellyfish species that's immortal, going through their life cycle over and over again

[@shockal7269]

until eaten

[@melvacaoyona-ollosa278]

​@@shockal7269not if left alone.

[@shockal7269]

@@melvacaoyona-ollosa278 left alone until eaten

[@quitlife9279]

@@shockal7269 ha but that was only the clone.

[@josequiles7430]

It's not really inmortal. It goes back to being a polyp and then *reproduces* to make medusas. It doesn't ever *turn* into a medusa again

[@PondScummer]

Their reproductive cycle reminds me of plants, who have alternating generations of sporophytes and gametophytes.

[@Brydav_Massbear]

The lifestyle of the sea jelly is so successful that these guys have been around for *millions* of years! Also, you forgot to mention that jellyfish polyps duplicate the same way coral polyps do! This makes sense considering the fact the two are also related.

[@B_4035mn]

What I'm interested in, is whether or not the leftover polyp bits return back to the polyp phase after all of the jellyfish are released.

[@monsterdream14]

Me too

[@DegenerateDryad]

I was wondering the same thing!

[@fenrirgg]

It seems to me like all the polyp ends becoming jellyfish.

[@zooemperor3954]

That factoid about how the adult sea jelly gets its name? I had no idea that’s why they were called that. That is admittedly pretty cool.

[@LuisSierra42]

That's their only name in spanish. We don't have a translation for Jellyfish other than medusa

[@justsomeofmyfavs]

@@LuisSierra42 Same in Italian, Hebrew and Russian.

[@baptistelalue2865]

Same in French : Méduse is their only name.

[@kamewantor4594]

​@@justsomeofmyfavsalso Ukrainian and Belarusian

[@JDog88]

A little trivia: A "factoid" is misinformation that has been spread by word of mouth for so long that it is commonly mistaken as fact. A couple examples being chewing gum staying in your stomach for seven years if swallowed, or that ostriches bury their heads in sand when threatened.

[@kylecooper4812]

I am so glad you guys finally made a video about this! Ever since I learned about how jellyfish reproduce, I’ve shared it with as many friends as would listen. You guys get the best footage, and you explain things so clearly! I can’t wait to share this!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thanks so much Kyle!

[@polinatalmeltzer450]

When it broke free and swam away, I screamed! It’s so fascinating to see this moment!!

[@bizwiz2852]

Always love a new deep look video! Keep up the amazing content! And I love how a jellyfish was named Medusa. That’s awesome

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you! Will do!

[@enricobianchi4499]

That's actually the normal name of the jellyfish in Italian :)

[@shannonlewis2022]

I will call these baby jellies “Squishies” and they shall be mine and they shall be my Squishies.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Nemo Nemo Nemo

[@BrunoMattei97]

I'm always stunned by the footage on your videos, props to the video and editing team for the amazing job!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Much appreciated!

[@srutideka2894]

Really the work is amazing

[@mythplatypuspwned]

Nice! I've seen this plenty of times in images, but this is the first time I've seen a KZbin documentary video actually showing it.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Wow, thanks!

[@AquariumOfTheBay]

Incredible video! Great to have you film at our Aquarium!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thanks again @AquariumOfTheBay !

[@blessedbeauty2293]

- 4:17 What !?! The story ends here!?! We *need* more. MUCH LONGER VIDEOS PLEASE 🙏🏽 🙂 ❤

[@alysonwong818]

A+ video!! The descriptions. Visual metaphors. Footage! Amazing. Thank you to your team!

[@blakedao4777]

Then what will happen to the part that still clings to the rock? Does it break free too or just lay there and die?

[@blueberry_borb]

Wow, jellyfish are so fascinating!!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

We agree!

[@moumous87]

Almost 40 and it’s only now that I see a good video showing well the reproduction cycle of jellyfish. What a great channel!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Wow, thank you!

[@chrisb6791]

Love this channel! Laura has a soothing voice and she's funny!

[@mackskuldinow238]

Wow. That’s really awesome. This was a great video! It was amazing to see how Jellyfish develop in such massive numbers!!

[@thetherrannative]

This really makes me want to replay the marine expansion of Zoo Tycoon 2. Such a lovely game, and so cool for learning the animals and their biomes.

[@KumiYeou]

in a lot of ways, true jellyfish are like ferns where they have two adult stages, just that jelly polyps aren't haploid like fern gametophytes

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Our next video on 4/16 will be about the fern lifecycle! And there will be gametophytes a-plenty.

[@Taylor-ig6uu]

Because of this video I finally understand the life cycle of jellyfish even though I had to learn about it 3 years ago and it only now clicked in my brain. This young biologist can finally let this subject rest, so THANK YOU. Now it’s just the life cycle of coral that has to click in my brain

[@hsingh8408]

Of course i love these episodes deep look, Your work is seriously exceptional as i have been watching your videos for almost 4-5 years❤❤

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you!

[@salvadorestrada1013]

Love watching deep look baked 😂

[@user-mk8yh1gv5r]

Wow! This is amazing! Jellyfish are awesome!

[@krohme8005]

Ooh, I love jellyfish! Especially moon jellies. Ive never theough about how they reproduce, but this makes sense. This is a very unique and interesting way to reproduce. 10/10 episode, probably my favorite thus far!!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

That's high praise! #inspo

[@bugandclaw]

I go through a stack of pancakes phase every weekend

[@give_anna_an_alt1744]

I was in St. John snorkeling a couple years ago and I didn't realize it was a Jellyfish bloom. (The adults were mostly at or near the surface) and when I noticed finally, I freaked out and noped my way out of the water and back onto the boat.

[@Guydude777]

Wow, didn't think the cloning went that far. That's really fascinating!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you!

[@parametric327]

Wow this is fascinating I like how jellyfish released

[@magikarpharbison6817]

I have always heard about how jellyfish reproduce but this is the first time I have seen it on a video so thanks

[@HappyGick]

Here in Venezuela there was recently a jellyfish bloom near the sea shores. Normally they don't come to the shores. It's believed to be caused by more contamination in the waters (because this species, the "cannonball" jellyfish, is mainly a filter feeder targeting algae), and a decrease in sea turtle population.

[@justinjyeung]

Amazing video! It really gives us the visuals to really see what's going on in the classic jellyfish life cycle that we've studied in high school or university :D Also how fitting that once the ephyrae break free, they resemble little sea snowflakes :)

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thanks so much Justin!!

[@Death_Gremlin]

Thats crazy but neat, that also explains the moon jellies in Ponyo :3

[@Phoenix.Sparkles]

This is like real life shape shifting with a twist

[@cleanerben9636]

Finally, some explanation of what polyps are.

[@Ty-bz7zx]

Always wondered... now I know! Very well done and interesting.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@albasapri3265]

Amazing images! Took me back to my zoology classes in my first year of biology ❤

[@KQEDDeepLook]

I'm so glad!

[@NataliDali]

One more amazing evidence of the "thin border" between the animal and plant kingdoms. Thank you, Deep Look, for reminding us once again that we are all one interconnected world. 🐚🐙🐋🐟🐠🐡🐬🐾🤍

[@KQEDDeepLook]

You are welcome, Natali!

[@NataliDali]

@@KQEDDeepLook Best regards from Ukraine! ❤🤍💙💛

[@AreHan1991]

Very beautiful!

[@FBTVOfficial]

Great video ❤❤❤

[@anonymustly7818]

Fascinating. As a kid I've been stung a couple of times by some form of jellyfish so I'm terrified of them.

[@foolish_admiral]

Thank you for uploading your lovely content🤗🤗

[@TKBreaksTheRules]

one of those videos that get increasingly interesting

[@peris_arts_film9699]

200,000 units ready, with a million more well on the way

[@GatorLife57]

Merry Christmas Laura !

[@user-uo4qg6lp7x]

This was very fascinating and extremely well photographed, and produced. Thank you for sharing. You have earned my subscription!😊

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you very much!

[@FenNick1994]

The ocean is fascinating. I'm not setting foot in it ever again.

[@alinowow]

i am so grateful for such an incredible channel, thank you always for making content that is so beautiful and informative!!

[@KQEDDeepLook]

You are most welcome,. We love making these videos.

[@markg1490]

Wow what a great video! I had never heard any of this. I just love how life works so differently for so many living creatures.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Laurx1106]

I'm crying while watching this, they're so beautiful 😢

[@SogeMoge]

Close-ups of a jelly are marvelous!

[@TheNukebooster]

The most cursed ability of some jellyfish is they can revert into polyp state and reclone themselves again.

[@killermakd2015]

More on sea creatures please. The narrator is amazing. So is the choice of music.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thanks! Here's a playlist with many of our ocean episodes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZqjXfaWifrCpgKc

[@RondoDondo]

I love the sound effects!

[@RRTSMPlayz]

I usually saw on how Jellyfishes reproduce on books back in my elementary school days, but to here, it really does seemingly pretty cool than only the figures and one picture. Jellies were really are almost alien like creatures on earth

[@thatdumbteen6812]

I like how science names things in the most complex ways and then there's "Strobilation"

[@MrBelascoaranShayne]

This was wonderful. Thanks for sharing

[@jackhazardous4008]

They look like-like something, but I can't put my finger on what.

[@knisayusuf]

Thank you.😊😊 I'd learnt this during my Life Science matriculation year(Biology subject)-never seen it in real life(like this video). This is one of the reasons I like biology and another one is how fern reproduce and virus. Although I'm an engineer now(taking another foundation after that matriculation-Engineering),I still remembered this. Biology is fascinating-same as physics and other engineering subjects. Thank you again-this video warms my heart,reminds me of the time I read about this in my college library where I spent hours and hours reading about plants,marine sponges and fungi etc.😊😊

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Thank you. Our next episode on April 16th will be about fern reproduction. And you are the first person we are telling!

[@knisayusuf]

@@KQEDDeepLook Ohhh..thank you so so much..❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I love ferns🥰🥰 I really appreciate this channel's efforts for making us(viewers) understand the world around us in an easy to digest form.😊😊 Thank you again.😊😊

[@hannukahcelt2027]

I'd never seen a video showing the life cycle of a jellyfish before. Now I'd like to see another, only this one explaining the ones that can regress back into the larval stage and become effectively immortal.

[@Quizack]

Here in Australia we have many cool species of jellyfish in the ocean. I recently went to the beach and found that hundreds of them had washed up on the shore. Massive jellyfish that were about the size of those mini basketballs that you'd have growing up. They were soft, slimy, and surprisingly dense in comparison to many others. Their surface had an amazing brain-like texture to it. It was cool to see! This video is perfect timing!

[@darulkhair701]

shoutout for cameraman staying that long under the sea to capture the life cycle

[@KQEDDeepLook]

You would be amazed at how long Josh can hold his breath.

[@krishnamanikalita1612]

Soooo sooo soo much beautiful video... thank you so much for your entire team.... please please keep making these amezing videos guys

[@KQEDDeepLook]

We will!

[@LeandroCasasBandLeader]

Great video! Thank you!

[@Sacred_Korok69]

I find baby jellyfish extremely cute. Just look at em flapping😂 theyre so small

[@A3Kr0n]

This is why jellyfish will rule the Earth someday.

[@SIK_Mephisto]

I have known this for a long time, but I have NEVER seen a video of it until now, even after looking. Thank you so much.

[@KQEDDeepLook]

You're very welcome!

[@ahhaitsmee]

Awww. The babies make babies🥹

[@helldronez]

Masterclass video documentary shots 😳❤👌

[@The_hot_blue_fire_guy]

The fact that creatures without a brain or even nerve cells can do this is absolutely insane! I’m surprised nobody has thought of making something like this but the size of a elephant and on land and turn it into a horror movie or something. Would probably work pretty well.

[@pureblood6310]

You could feed the world with all these jellies!

[@AbzuLifeweaver]

Fascinating, imagine plants evolving into more animal-like versions similar to jellyfish,

[@benslusher1698]

This past summer I experienced my first jellyfish bloom. So cool to see on the beach

[@noname-kx4cu]

Jellyfish is are so cute.

[@ccblack3983]

It blows my mind that jellyfish grow similar to plants? Like, they multiply closer to a pothos than a human.

[@abbyallen4421]

I didn't know that polyps were baby jellies!

[@MrH2O1998]

One of my all time favorite animals.

[@MetroidsEATYou]

The second "O" of Deep Look was perfectly placed at 0:03... I just needed to express that!

[@IWASNEVERHEREIDIDNOTEXIST]

Jellyfishes look like giant microorganisms.

[@tamitamini]

i've seen this in my biology textbook but i've always wandered how it would look like irl

[@maryamkhan7953]

This is amazing!

[@cloudymind8902]

I freaking love jellyfish they're so cool

[@horseshoehimself]

Jellyfish are one of my favourite aquatic invertebrates.

[@fabo-desu]

I’ve read about this at school, but I’ve never actually seen it, that’s really cool

[@Peacfull]

Deep Look is a wonder of KZbin! great work

[@KQEDDeepLook]

Glad you think so!