Journal 2: Symbiotic Relationships in Marine Ecosystems

In symbiosis there are three different types of symbiotic such as mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. Symbiosis is when two organisms live together, but neither organism is beneficial. A marine example of commensalism would be a Whale Shark and a Remora, the Remora stays under the shark's belly and catches and excess food that the shark has left behind. The shark is benefiting the Remora because it is basically feeding the it. Commensalism is when two organisms are living together, but only on one organism benefits the other, the other organism neither does harm or benefits. Mutualism is a type of symbiosis that benefits both organisms. An example of mutualism in marine biology would be pistol shrimp and go-by because the pistol shrimp is blind, so they go-by watches the pistol shrimp by wiggling its body to get the predator to leave so that the pistol shrimp can have a place to put their eggs. Parasitism is a relationship between two organisms that one benefits or lives of the other (a parasite). An example of this would be Isopods, and Fish because the isopod is benefiting but also is harming the fish. It benefits the fish by getting to eat everything that the fish consumes, but is also harming the fish by its tongue.

Posted on October 22, 2015 02:29 PM by i3amberbri