Definission: Colonial organisms are clonal colonies composed of many physically connected, interdependent individuals. The subunits of colonial organisms can be unicellular, as in the alga Volvox (a coenobium), or multicellular, as in the phylum Bryozoa. The former type may have been the first step toward multicellular organisms
Definission: overall repetitive or reflective pattern in the body of one individual of this taxon. eg: bilateral symmetry, rotational symmetry, radial symmetry
Definission: number of currently described and taxonomically accepted marine species in this clade (Appeltans et al. 2012. The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity. Current Biology 22, 2189–2202. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.036)
Definission: Capable of the biological process in which new individuals are produced by either a single cell or a group of cells, in the absence of any sexual process.
Definission: position of an organism in a food web. May be described verbally with descriptors including primary producer, herbivore or carnivore. If described numerically, 1 indicates a primary producer, 2 a herbivore, and so on up the food web.
Definission: "marine species in this clade which are currently represented in specimen collections (estimate) (Appeltans et al. 2012. The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity. Current Biology 22, 2189–2202. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.036)"