News

Many marine invertebrates recover from the loss of a limb by regenerating the lost appendage. Scientists believed this was also true for the moon jellyfish until they made a surprising discovery in the lab. Rather than regenerating the limb, moon jellyfish simply rearranged their other limbs to regain symmetry, which is important for their ability to swim.

Biologists Lea Goentoro and Michael Abrams happened across the discovery when testing their experimental techniques on moon jellyfish in preparation for a study on limb regeneration among immortal jellyfish. Goentoro and Abrams were shocked to see this never-before-seen strategy of recovering from limb loss, now called “symmetrization.” To accomplish this, the jellyfish use their muscles to re-situate their remaining arms until they are evenly spaced, a process that can take anywhere from 12 hours to four days.

Without limb symmetry, jellyfish have difficulty propelling themselves through the water so adjusting after losing a limb is particularly important.

Read more about the surprising discovery here.