The colony formed by asexual budding originates from either a primary zooid (the ancestrula) or a statoblast. The ancestrula is formed by the metamorphosis of a sexually produced larva. New zooids bud from the ancestrula to produce colonies of definite shape and growth habit. In the phylactolaemates, the primitive zooids are cylindrical in form, and the budding pattern results in a branched colony. In more highly evolved phylactolaemates, colonies are compact, and discrete zooids can be recognized only with difficulty. New polypides, which originate by ingrowth of the superficial cell layer, or epithelium, remain suspended within a common colonial coelom, or body cavity.

Among living members of the primitive (and mainly fossil) marine stenolaemates, the long and slender zooids have calcified tubular skeletons. A larva metamorphoses into a hemispherical primary disk (or proancestrula). A cylindrical extension grows from the proancestrula, and the matrix of the colony then is built up by repeated divisions of the zooidal walls. Internal walls of the colony are called septa. The growth and budding zones of the colony are found at its outer edges. Cells from the surface epithelium push inward to produce the polypide, and the septa create a chamber around it. The walled portion of a zooid is called the cystid.

In the gymnolaemates, in which the zooids frequently are flattened, budding occurs as transverse septa form and cut off parts of the primary zooid (or any other parent zooid). As each bud enlarges to become a zooid, a polypide forms inside. In the order Cheilostomata, budding usually produces rows of identical zooids that radiate from the primary zooid. The rows divide periodically to keep pace with the increasing circumference of the colony. Successive zooids in a row are separated by transverse septa, but adjoining rows are separated by double walls. Interzooidal pores are present both in the walls and in the septa.

Reproduction

Mature gymnolaemate and phylactolaemate zooids are generally hermaphroditic (i.e., both male and female reproductive organs in the same zooid); small gonads are attached in clusters to the membrane that lines the body wall or the polypide. In a few species the individual zooids are of one sex only. In these circumstances, female zooids are usually larger (e.g., the cheilostome Reptadeonella), male zooids may be simpler (e.g., the cheilostome Hippoporidra), or female and male reproductive zooids each may be distinguishable from ordinary feeding zooids (e.g., the cheilostome Celleporella). Among living stenolaemates most zooids contain only testes (male gonads). The few female zooids enlarge to form spacious brood chambers, which are called gonozooids. During development, a young embryo squeezes off groups of cells that form secondary embryos; these in turn may form tertiary embryos. In this way, many larvae can develop in a single brood chamber.

Among the phylactolaemates, the fertilized egg develops in an internal embryo sac; a larva, which already contains the first polypide, is formed there, then liberated. Phylactolaemates also produce statoblasts, which develop on the funiculus, a cord of tissue that links the stomach to the lining of the body wall. As it grows, each statoblast is surrounded by a hard protective case that may also include an air-filled float and slender, hooked spines. Statoblasts usually develop in late summer and are liberated as the colony disintegrates with the approach of winter. Statoblasts survive dry and freezing conditions and can initiate a new colony when favourable climatic conditions recur.

In gymnolaemates one oocyte at a time usually enlarges and bursts from the ovary into the coelom. The oocyte then is fertilized and transferred to a brood chamber. This may be an undifferentiated part of a zooid; usually among the cheilostomes, however, each reproducing zooid develops a special globular or hooded ooecium in which the embryo grows. In most cheilostomes the egg at transfer has sufficient yolk to nourish its developing embryo, but in the cheilostomes Bugula and Celleporella the egg, which is small at transfer, establishes a pseudoplacenta with tissues of the mother zooid and receives nourishment as the embryo develops. The ciliated larvae, spherical and often about 1/4 millimetre in diameter, are liberated when fully developed and may swim first toward the light and thus away from the parent colony; later, however, the larvae avoid light as they seek a place in which to attach and metamorphose. Metamorphosis of larvae to adults occurs within a few hours after larvae are liberated.

In certain genera (e.g., Membranipora) of the class Gymnolaemata, each zooid produces many tiny eggs, which are fertilized by sperm from another zooid as they are shed directly into the sea. The fertilized eggs develop into triangular, bivalved larvae, known as cyphonautes, which for several weeks live among, and feed on, plankton. Larvae from brood chambers and cyphonautes metamorphose in a similar way; i.e., both locate a suitable surface and explore it with sensory cilia. Attachment is achieved by flattening a sticky holdfast, which pulls the larva down on top of it. As metamorphosis proceeds, larval organization degenerates, and the first polypide develops inside a primary zooid.