Symbiosis

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Symbiosis

• Sym- together
• Bio- life/living
• Osis- Condition of

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What is Symbiosis?

• When at least two organisms live together in a
  way that benefits at least one of the organisms
• Can occur in all of the kingdoms
• Can occur with organisms from different kingdoms
• There are three types of symbiosis mutualism,
  commensalism, parasitism

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Why?

• Can provide benefits to both organisms
• Allows organisms to survive in the same
  environmental niche
• Helps an organism to avoid competition
• Can prevent an organism from becoming prey

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Commensalism

• One organism is helped and the other organism is
  neither helped nor harmed

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• Certain species of crab carry venomous sea
  urchins on their backs
• Gives the crab protection from predators

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• Man of War fish live among the poisonous
  tentacles of the Portuguese Man-of-War jellyfish
• Gives the fish protection from predators

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• Here, the Anemone crab, a filter feeder, lives
  among the tentacles of a giant sea anemone.
• Tucked safely among the tentacles, it can filter
  its food from the water.

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• Zebra crabs cling to a fire urchin.
• The venomous spines protect the crabs from
  predators.

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• The remora attaches itself to a shark with a
  suction cup and eats scraps from the sharks
  meals
• The shark is not harmed, but also does not
  benefit. Only the remora benefits.

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Mutualism

• When both organisms receive some benefit from the
  relationship

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• The African honeyguide bird and the honey badger
  (ratel)
• The bird finds honey bee nests and makes a
  special call to attract the badger, who breaks
  open the hive so both can eat

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• Tick bird and rhinoceros Ox-pecker and ox
• The birds get food (ticks) and protection and the
  rhino and ox get parasites removed

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• The crocodile opens its mouth to let the Egyptian
  plover (a bird) pick leeches off of its gums
• The crocodile is rid of a parasite and the plover
  gets a meal

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• Cleaner wrasses remove parasites from larger fish
• They have been known to set up cleaning
  stations where fish can come to get cleaned
• Wrasses get food and other fish get parasites
  removed

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• Bees travel from flower to flower to collect
  nectar
• The flowers get pollinated and the bees get
  nectar to make honey

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• There is a protozoan in the gut of a termite that
  helps it to digest the cellulose in the wood
• The protozoan gets its food delivered and has a
  place to live and the termite has help in
  digestion

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• Tube worms deep at the bottom of the ocean have
  bacteria that live inside them
• The tube worms bring in the nutrients and
  chemicals and the bacteria convert them into food
  for the tube worm

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Parasitism

• One organism is helped and the other organism is
  harmed and possibly killed
• A parasite can live on or in its host organism

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• A tapeworm attaches to the intestinal wall of its
  host and absorbs nutrients
• This harms the host because its nutrients are
  being diverted to the parasite

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• Fleas bite and suck the blood of animals
• Ticks can bite and hang on while they suck the
  blood of animals
• Both can transmit disease

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• Leeches attach to their victims and inject an
  anti-coagulant to keep the blood from clotting
• Leeches get a meal, and the organism loses blood
  and can get open wounds which can become infected.

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Mimicry

• Some people consider mimicry a form of symbiosis
• However, mimicry only involves one organism
• The organism may imitate another living thing (or
  a non-living thing such as a rock or a stick),
  but it does not derive an actual benefit from
  what it is mimicking