Symbiotic Relationships:
Mutualism:
A relationship where both organisms benefit from each other.
EXAMPLE:
An oxpecker and a rhino. The rhino gets cleaned by the oxpecker because there are pests living on it. The rhino is cleaned of pests and the oxpecker gets a free meal. Both of these organisms benefit from each other.
Commensalism:
A relationship where one organism benefits but the other is not. The other organism is not harmed.
EXAMPLE:
A shark and a remora. The remora gets to get a ride from the shark and gets to eat the leftovers of its food. However, the shark is not benefited.
Parasitic:
A parasitic relationship is a relationship where one organism is benefited while the other is harmed.
EXAMPLE:
A dog and fleas. Fleas live on the dog and suck the blood from it to survive. The dog acts as a food source. The fleas are benefiting but the dog is not. The dog is harmed.
Competitive/Competition:
An interaction between two species or organisms in which fitness is lowered by the presence of another.
EXAMPLE:
An example of competition is a cheetah and a lion. Both of these predators prey upon the same prey. They are both impacted by the presence of another because they compete with each other for food.
Predator/Prey:
A predator is an animal that hunts another animal for food. The animal that is being hunted is called a prey. Preys are usually herbivores but sometimes they can be carnivores devoured by another carnivore.
EXAMPLE: An example of a predator is a hawk. The animal or prey that it hunts is a snake. There are other prey that the hawk hunts but the snake is one of them.
Mutualism:
A relationship where both organisms benefit from each other.
EXAMPLE:
An oxpecker and a rhino. The rhino gets cleaned by the oxpecker because there are pests living on it. The rhino is cleaned of pests and the oxpecker gets a free meal. Both of these organisms benefit from each other.
Commensalism:
A relationship where one organism benefits but the other is not. The other organism is not harmed.
EXAMPLE:
A shark and a remora. The remora gets to get a ride from the shark and gets to eat the leftovers of its food. However, the shark is not benefited.
Parasitic:
A parasitic relationship is a relationship where one organism is benefited while the other is harmed.
EXAMPLE:
A dog and fleas. Fleas live on the dog and suck the blood from it to survive. The dog acts as a food source. The fleas are benefiting but the dog is not. The dog is harmed.
Competitive/Competition:
An interaction between two species or organisms in which fitness is lowered by the presence of another.
EXAMPLE:
An example of competition is a cheetah and a lion. Both of these predators prey upon the same prey. They are both impacted by the presence of another because they compete with each other for food.
Predator/Prey:
A predator is an animal that hunts another animal for food. The animal that is being hunted is called a prey. Preys are usually herbivores but sometimes they can be carnivores devoured by another carnivore.
EXAMPLE: An example of a predator is a hawk. The animal or prey that it hunts is a snake. There are other prey that the hawk hunts but the snake is one of them.
Symbiotic Relationships in the Coral Reef:
Mutualism:
In the coral reef, there is a mutualism relationship between fish and other fish with parasites living inside of them. The fish will pick off the parasites of the other fish by eating the parasites. Both of these organisms benefit because one is cleaned of parasites and the other gets a free meal.
Commensalism:
An example of a comensalism relationship in the coral reef is a sea cucumber and a pearl fish. The pearl fish uses the sea cucumber as a hide out. The way of how this works is that the pearl fish backs up into the anus of the sea cucumber with its tail first and hides in it. It leaves its head sticking out but if there is a predator approaching it then the pearl fish will hide its head within the anus of the sea cucumber. The pearl fish is benefited by being able to hide in the sea cucumber but the sea cucumber isn't benefited at all.
Mutualism:
In the coral reef, there is a mutualism relationship between fish and other fish with parasites living inside of them. The fish will pick off the parasites of the other fish by eating the parasites. Both of these organisms benefit because one is cleaned of parasites and the other gets a free meal.
Commensalism:
An example of a comensalism relationship in the coral reef is a sea cucumber and a pearl fish. The pearl fish uses the sea cucumber as a hide out. The way of how this works is that the pearl fish backs up into the anus of the sea cucumber with its tail first and hides in it. It leaves its head sticking out but if there is a predator approaching it then the pearl fish will hide its head within the anus of the sea cucumber. The pearl fish is benefited by being able to hide in the sea cucumber but the sea cucumber isn't benefited at all.
Parasitism:
In the coral reef there is a parasitic relationship where a parasite hops onto a fish and sucks the life out of it. In the picture below it shows how a parasite is on the top of a fish sucking the life out of it.
In the coral reef there is a parasitic relationship where a parasite hops onto a fish and sucks the life out of it. In the picture below it shows how a parasite is on the top of a fish sucking the life out of it.
Predator/Prey:
In the coral reef, one of the predators in the coral reef are sharks. Sharks hunt down the fish that live in the coral reef. Its good that they hunt these fish because they help keep the fish population from over populating. Some of the prey that live in the coral reef are sea turtles, several fish species, lobsters, clams and more.
Competitive:
There is competition between the sponge and coral in the coral reef. Sponge damage the coral for space. Both of these organisms are somewhat similar. They both provide homes for smaller organisms. They compete against each other for space.
There is competition between the sponge and coral in the coral reef. Sponge damage the coral for space. Both of these organisms are somewhat similar. They both provide homes for smaller organisms. They compete against each other for space.