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The jellyfish life cycle alternates between two distinct stages: the polyp and the medusa. It begins with a tiny, free-swimming ciliated larva called a planula, which develops from a fertilized egg. Once the planula attaches to a suitable substrate, it transforms into a polyp. Polyps can live either solitarily or in groups, reproducing asexually through a process called budding, or strobilation. As polyps grow, they eventually reach a size at which they stop producing new polyps and instead start releasing a free-swimming stage known as an ephyra. Ephyras, which already resemble miniature adult jellyfish in shape and structure, gradually mature into adult jellyfish. Only adult jellyfish reproduce sexually, completing the cycle.
