colonial
n. countablen. a member of a group of animals or plants that live very closely together in one large unit. You use this when talking about tiny creatures like coral or ants that act as a single team.
n. an individual organism that functions as part of a larger, physically connected or highly integrated group. Used primarily in biological contexts to describe members of a colony, such as polyps or social insects.
Each tiny colonial helps build the larger coral reef.
Biologists observed how each individual colonial contributed to the overall survival of the floating organism.
The study examines how the specialized roles of each colonial within the siphonophore allow the entire cluster to function as a single, complex predator.
From colony + -al.
In biological contexts, the noun refers to the individual member of a colony; it is distinct from the adjective form used to describe historical empires.