Fragmentation and Apolysis

In fragmentation, the parent body simply breaks apart into separate pieces, and each such fragment carries the potential to develop into a complete new individual on its own. This is seen in many genera of sea anemones through a specific process called pedal laceration, in which small lobes are pinched off from the animal's pedal (basal) disc; each detached lobe then grows its own mesenteries and tentacles, developing over time into a fully formed, independent sea anemone.

A related but more specialised process, apolysis, is seen in tapeworms such as Taenia solium. The tapeworm's body (the strobila) is organised as a chain of segments called proglottids, with the oldest, most sexually mature (gravid, or ripe) proglottids positioned at the very posterior end of the strobila. These gravid proglottids, each already packed with fertilised eggs, are regularly detached from the posterior end of the strobila - either singly or in small groups - by the process of apolysis. This detachment matters far beyond simple growth or reproduction: it is the mechanism by which the tapeworm transfers its developed emb …