Casey W Dunn, Philip R Pugh, Steven HD Haddock

2005/12/1

Systematic Biology

54

6

916-935

Taylor & Francis

Abstract Siphonophores are a group of pelagic colonial hydrozoans (Cnidaria) that have
long been of general interest because of the division of labor between the polyps and
medusae that make up these “superorganisms.” These polyps and medusae are each
homologous to free living animals but are generated by an incomplete asexual budding
process that leaves them physiologically integrated. They are functionally specialized for
different tasks and are precisely organized within each colony. The number of functional ...