Asexual reproduction occurs through fission, budding, and fragmentation. Reproduction may be asexual when one individual produces genetically identical offspring, or sexual when the genetic material from two individuals is combined to produce genetically diverse offspring.

Sexual reproduction may mean the joining of sperm and eggs within animals’ bodies or it may mean the release of sperm and eggs into the environment. Sexual reproduction starts with the combination of a sperm and an egg in a process called fertilization.

asexual reproduction — form of reproduction that produces offspring that are genetically identical to the parent. budding — form of asexual reproduction that results from the outgrowth of a part of a cell leading to a separation from the original animal into two individuals. fission — (also, binary fission) method by which multicellular organisms increase in size or asexual reproduction in which a unicellular organism splits into two separate organisms by…. fragmentation — cutting or fragmenting of the original animal into parts and the growth of a separate animal from each part.