Evidence of asexual polyp development from the adult body in Stomolopus sp2

Abstract Stomolophus spp. is one of the commercially important jellyfish in the world; however, its life cycle has recently been described with new forms of asexual reproduction in the polyp stage, with the reversion process to ephyrae considered an advantage for increasing population size, especially under stressful conditions. In this study, we observed the generation of new polyp colonies directly from the bell margins of the medusae. Here we present the first evidence for back-transformation of tissues medusae into polyps in Stomolophus sp.2. The new way of asexual reproduction from medusae in the complex life cycle of this species reveals a long-range asexual mechanism of dispersion and potential of invasion, as well as of capacities to rejuvenation, the possibilities of immortality with reprogramming of differentiated cells and the increase of populations and blooms not only in this species but also in others that may have the same process of reversion.