Blastozooid

/ˌblæstəˈzoʊɔɪd/ noun

Definition

An individual animal produced by budding in a colonial animal organism, as in hydroids or bryozoans.

Etymology

From Greek 'blastos' (bud, sprout) + 'zoon' (animal) + '-oid' (resembling). Created in 19th-century marine biology to name animals produced asexually by budding.

Kelly Says

A blastozooid is like a clone born from its parent colony—some colonies of hydroids can produce hundreds of identical zooids from a single bud! They're genetically identical triplets, quadruplets, and worse.

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