(I found lots of these answers at the above link.)
So each bud becomes a separate jellyfish?
No. It turns out that some buds can make more polyps and polyps can either live alone or in a colony that looks like big stem with lots of weird flower things on it. The buds for medusa look different that the buds for new, asexually produced, polyps.
How many buds are there on each polyp?
This varies widely.
After all the buds are broken off, does the polyp then die?
No. Some polyps can live for a very, very long time. The jellyfish normally don't live that long-A few months or so.
Do the polyps gather the same kind of food that the mini-medusa will eat later on?
What DO they eat?
Yes. Generally the polyps and the little medusa eat zooplankton. The grown jellyfish eat different things. Some species eat zooplankton their whole lives. Other's move on to bigger things like crustaceans. There are fish and other animals that prey on jellyfish too. Some kinds are eaten by people. Not this person yet, but some people.
Links:
The Zoo Aquarium in Berlin talks about what it takes to breed jellyfish here.
Video of feeding polyps. It's a little blurry.
Word of The Day
Zooplankton: microscopic animals that eat phytoplankton which are microscopic plants.
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