Sessile
From Palaeos
| LIFESTYLE |
| Benthos | Nekton | Plankton | Semi-aquatic | Sessile | Terrestrial | Vagile |
Sessile organisms typically have a mobile (called vagile) or motile larval phase in their development, which becomes attached and sessile at maturity. However the pattern is reversed in Scyphozoa (jellyfish) which begin life as sessile polyps (when the planula settles down).
Some sponges and sessile Cnidaria are capable of asexual reproduction through budding. Sessile organisms may be solitary or grow together in clumps. Competition for light and food resources may cause sessile organisms to grow in tiers (see benthic tiering).
The garden eels, genus Heteroconger, have the unique distinction of being the world's only sessile vertebrates, as they never leave their burrows as adults.
In botany, sessile means "without a stalk", as in flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem, such as the flowers of the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao, emerge directly from the tree trunk.
[edit] Credits
MAK061106 (with some material from wikipedia)
