Jellyshrubs

Created by Cookedshellz

The Jellyshrub is a descendant of upside-down jellyfish with longer tentacles than its ancestor, allowing for more symbiotic algae to live inside of it. Nearly every part of its body is filled with algae, making it look more like a plant than a jellyfish.

Biology

Jellyshrub live on the seafloor in shallow areas along tropical coasts worldwide. In their adult stage, they can completely subsist off of the byproducts of their symbiotic algae, only occasionally taking in zooplankton for extra energy and nutrients. Due to their resemblance to plants, they don't really need to worry about predation, as most predators would simply mistake them for an ocean plant. The only creature they really need to worry about are aquatic herbivores, which may mistake them for plants. They can detect vibrations near them, and if threatened, they can actually ambulate along the seafloor away from anything that might eat them, using their bell, which is the ‘base’ of  their body. Through specialized movements of the bell, they can go quite fast, up to 30 inches per minute. Typically, this movement lets herbivores know that it's not a plant and should not be eaten.

Reproduction

Jellyshrub reproduce much like other jellyfish. A male will release sperm, and if it reaches a jellyshrub egg, it will fertilize the egg and grow into a planula. This planula attaches itself to the seafloor and becomes a polyp, and many baby medusa bud off of the polyp. In their juvenile medusa stage, jellyshrub are much like other jellyfish, swimming around and feeding on zooplankton. However, as they get older, the symbiotic algae population grows inside their body and they become more reliant on the algae, until eventually they also become less reliant on swimming and bury their bells into the seafloor. Their tentacles act like branches and leaves of a plant, and that is where most of the photosynthesis in their body takes place. These tentacles can grow up to 12 inches long.