🤝🐝 The colony is made up of individuals with different specialized functions: feeding, defense, reproduction…just like bees in their hive! It’s the division of labor.

🎣🌿 What we see most on the colony are the feeder polyps or hydranths. Each of them can catch food with its tentacles, bring to its mouth – the hypothosme – and pre-digest it. The nutrients are then shared and distributed in the colony through the stolon ( = the branches).

🛡️🍢 There is also structures specialized for the defense, the small stinging nematophores located between hydranths!

🍐⚧️  Finally, the individuals in charge of reproduction are pear-shaped sacs full of eggs found at the base of the plume. They are not visible here – but maybe I will show you another time!