gastrozooid

A gastrozooid is a type of zooid (an individual unit within a colonial organism) that is equipped with a mouth and digestive organs. These are also referred to as trophozooids. In colonial animals like bryozoans (moss animals), individual zooids, rarely exceeding one millimeter in length, form colonies through asexual budding. While each zooid functions as a complete animal, they remain interconnected, sharing nutrients. The gastrozooid's primary role is feeding, utilizing a lophophore—a ring of tentacles surrounding the mouth—to capture food particles. The digestive tract within the gastrozooid processes this food and has an anus located outside the tentacles.12