The colony begins when a young queen leaves her parent colony and mates.

The buds break off and form new floaters, and eventually all that's left of the parent colony is a dead, hollow husk.

Sometimes this new growth gets separated from the parent colony, and a new colony of fire coral is formed, genetically identical to the original one.

When mature, these larvae exit the atrial siphon of the adult and then settle close to the parent colony (often within meters).

At its peak the colony numbered over 500 members, but Cabet's death in 1856 caused some members to leave this parent colony and move elsewhere.

Young queens and males stay in their parent colony until conditions are right for the nuptial flight.

They fly out from their parent colony in search of other colonies where virgin queens wait for them.

Adult reproductives leave the parent colony to mate.

Vertical stolons may also develop and attach themselves to other surfaces before detaching themselves from the parent colony.

Each cell can generate a daughter autocolony with exactly the same number and arrangement of cells as the parent colony.