Blue Blubber Jelly

These jellies alternate between a sessile, asexually-reproducing polyp phase and a free-swimming sexually-reproducing medusa phase. Planulae spend 4-5 days in the water column before settling to the bottom and turning into a polyp. Polyps often settle in locations near other polyps, resulting in clumps or aggregations of polyps in an area. During strobilation, a polyp can be 0.08” tall and produces between 1-5 medusae. The medusae grow to an average of 9.8-11.8” in diameter. Sexual reproduction likely occurs year-round, though it may slow in winter.

A polyp is able to asexually reproduce more polyps through producing podocysts, via pedal cysts, or via budding. Podocysts are dormant and can survive through harsh conditions, such as low food, and will metamorphose into a polyp when conditions improve. Pedal cysts are a bit of pedal disk material that is left behind when a polyp moves across a surface.