Question

How is reproduction carried out in hydra?

Answer 1

Hint: Budding can be defined as the process through which a new individual develops from any generative part of the parent organism.

Complete Answer:
Hydra belongs to the phylum Cnidaria and they are small and fresh-water living organisms. In hydra, both modes of reproduction is seen , i.e sexual and asexual mode of reproduction. In asexual mode of reproduction it reproduces by a process called as budding. They produce asexually only when there is adequate food available.

The process of budding involves the following steps,
1) In the parent body, an outgrowth is seen and this outgrowth is due to repeated cell division at a particular site.
2) This outgrowth can be termed as “bud”.
3) The bud grows as an attachment to the parent body until it is grown enough.
4) Once it is fully grown, it detaches from the body.

When the availability of food is low, Hydra can reproduce sexually. In sexual mode of reproduction, the following steps take place,
- In the parent body, an outgrowth is seen and this outgrowth is due to repeated cell division at a particular site.
- The outgrowth or the swelling then develops into either ovary or testes.
- The testes release sperm which then fuse with the ovary.
- This results in production of offspring.

Note: Hydra undergoes asexual mode of reproduction only when it has adequate food, otherwise it undergoes sexual mode of reproduction. And both of these methods use budding.