| Description of life cycle and mating behavior |
Life cycle: Fertilized egg develops into a planula larva after 1 day. Planula swims for 4 to 8 days until it becomes a translucent, whitish and dome-shaped scyphistoma and settles at the bottom. Becomes a fully-developed scyphistoma after 10 to 20 days of settlement. Also exhibits asexual reproduction by means of podocyst formation (as many as 18 podocysts on a single original scyphistoma within 7 days to 3 months). Scyphistoma colony develops from podocyst of original scyphistoma within 6 months at 18°C. Fully-developed scyphistoma develops into a strobila after a day and becomes a liberated ephyra with 5 to 7 days. Becomes a fully-developed metaphyra within 30 days of post-liberation and becomes a young medusa within 40 to 50 days of post-liberation (Ref. 3004). Furthermore, ephyrae are released into the plankton during early summer. After subsequent sexual reproduction, the medusae die during winter. The life span of the medusae is less than a year (Ref. 100320).
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