Pronunciation: ko-LO-ne-al
Etymology: Colonial is derived from the Latin, colonia, which means a settled area outside of Italy. In this sense, it means loosely organized community.
The term is used in several ways to describe loose associations.
Colonial animals grow or bud multiple individuals that are connected as in the illustration below. The Obelia zoids, though different individuals, share the same gut.
Colonial animals may live in social groups (e.g. colonies of social insects like ants and bees).
Protists, including green algae, may form cellular structures that are all alike or have little cellular differentiation. Often such colonial organisms are made by a determined number of mitoses, and therefore, a determined number of cells (examples include Volvox and Asterionella).
Bacterial colonies are the mitotic products from a single cell to a visible cluster on an agar plate.
| By Jack R. Holt. Last revised: 01/02/2009 |
