Posted : January 2010
Author : Listmaster
One can’t live without the other – this is the nature of a
truly symbiotic relationship, and in the wilds of nature it is often a very
delicately balanced situation. Evolution is an amazing thing but species that
evolve together can be all the more spectacular, protecting, feeding and
cleaning one another in incredible ways. In the oceans, sharks pair with fish,
fish with shrimp and shrimp with sea cucumbers and much much more. From boxing
crabs that wield poisonous anemones as weapons to shrimp that scour the mouths
of electric eels, here are seven of the most radical symbiotic relationships
from the shallowest to the deepest waters of our world. And of course this is
only the life that we know about; it is most likely that even more bizarre
creatures exist at the depths we have not yet begun to understand. So this list
will present what we do know about symbiotic life-buddies in the oceans.
The two most obvious symbiotic relationships involve food
associations (commensalism) and associations in which both host and symbiont
benefit (mutualism). These two are very close, but in commensalism, the issue
is only food and it’s
usually only the symbiont that benefits directly.
Some animals like the Carrier Crab are highly creative in
locating their defenses. The urchin being carried by this crab would likely
prefer a solitary existence. This is an example of leveraging other animals in
their habitat for protection – the crab is much safer with these spiky needles
surrounding it – that leads to the symbiotic relationship.
9. Decorator Crabs - Sponges
Some creatures use others as camouflage. Decorator crabs
snip pieces off of sponges and other nearby organisms and embed them into their
shells, sometimes even carving the sponge into a cap that neatly fits on their
carapace. Other crabs plant sea anemones onto their shells devising a built-in
self-maintaining shield of stinging cells or hold one in each claw, and like a
boxer, attempt to punch the offender with its borrowed battery. Scientists
believe these types of relationships merely evolved from creatures living in
close proximity with one another.
8. Cleaner Shrimp – Eels
The cleaner shrimp seems foolhardy, climbing into the open
mouths of sharp-fanged eels to dig around for food. These photos seem to depict
daring shrimp shortly before their demise, but actually show an ancient
tradition of cleaning. Moreover, these shrimp have evolved beyond merely
finding eels and fish in order to eat their mouth parasites: they congregate at
“cleaning stations” in vast numbers. And yes, if you are looking for an
alternative dental hygienist, they will even clean your mouth.
7. Crabs - Sea Anemones
Boxing, hermit and other crabs have found that they make
friends with strange benefits in various species of stinging sea anemones.
Boxing crabs (above, top) hold on to anemones and wield them like deadly
pom-poms, warding off potential predators with their poisonous pals. Some
hermit crabs (above, bottom) lift anemones and attach them to their shells in
order to dissuade attackers. These relationships go both ways: the anemones are
able to pick up more food as they move through the water with their shelled
allies.
6. Shrimp - Goby Friendship
A happy-looking spotted fish living with a hard-nosed shelled
shrimp: it sounds like something from made-for-kids animated movie. However,
the goby and their shrimp buddies are truly contented cohabitants. They occupy
holes together dug by the shrimp and protected by the goby. The relatively
blind shrimp rely on their strong-sighted goby door guards to signal them about
when it is safe to move. The gobies, in turn, rely on the burrowing shrimp to
have a safe place to hide and sleep.
5. Sharks - Remora
Sharks seem like the most unlikely allies of the ocean:
huge, speedy, vicious and ruthless predators so why are they so tolerant of
remora fish using strange stickers on their heads to attach to attach to the
shark’s underbelly.
This was initially thought to be a case of commensalism, a relationship in
which one species benefits and the other gains nothing but it is now widely
thought that the remora not only picks up the scraps after a shark has a meal
but also cleans the parasites from its underside, much like insects do with
elephants and rhinos on land.
4. Angler Fish and Its Bacteria Bait
The angler fish is one of the most infamously ugly and
unbelievable deep-sea swimmer, luring unsuspecting victims into is gaping
toothed mouth. How does it accomplish this feat? With the promise of a small
glowing prey that is, in fact, millions of glowing bacteria attached to a
fishing-pole-like protrusion from its forehead.
3. Emperor Shrimp and Its Ride
The Emperor Shrimp is the ultimate hitchhiker and a prime
example of mutualism. The appropriately named emperor shrimp, however, is one
that benefits more than its partners from its relationships with them. While it
is not a parasite, its rides gain no real advantage from having a shrimp
cruising around on their backs. These hitchhikers of the sea can be found on
top of much larger and faster-moving creatures including nudibranchs and sea
cucumbers. They hang off the sites and pick up scraps from the dirt as their
mounts move about the sea floor.
2. Clown Fish - Sea Anemone
Made popular by Nemo: The clown fish is virtually the only
species of fish that seems able to resist the toxic effects of sea anemone
poison, moving through them unharmed. The anemones protect them and they eat
the leftovers from fish on the anemone including copepods, isopods and
zooplankton. They also fiercely protect their territory, keeping individual
anemones to themselves in small gender-switching self-sufficient groups.
Remember Finding Nemo? In real life, Marlin would have turned female after Nemo’s
mother died.
1. Coleman Shrimp - Fire Urchin
Coleman shrimp are normally found in pairs on the toxic sea
urchin, Asthenosoma varium, also called a fire urchin, with the female being
the larger of the two. Coleman shrimp move amongst the poisonous spines and
pedicellaria without incurring harm but they usually clear an area of these
obstructions where they perch. They have every confidence that they are secure
on their poisonous perch and do not move about as other shrimp often do. The
white and dark brown striped Urchin crab is another guest of the fire urchin
often occurring on the same animal as the Coleman Shrimp. Whereas the Coleman
Shrimp only lives on the fire urchin, Urchin crabs live in association with a
variety of urchins. The last segment of its leg forms a hook to hold onto the
spines of the sea urchin. It can be found singly or in pairs.
~Blog Admin~
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