| Symbiotic Relationship |
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(Amphiprion ocellaris) in their magnificent sea anemone (Heteractis magnifica) home.]] Symbiosis (pl. symbioses) (from the Greek words ''syn'' = with/plus and ''bio'' = life) is an Interaction between two Organism s living together in more or less intimate association or even the merging of two dissimilar organisms. The term symbiont lives inside the Cells of a host, it is referred to as an Endosymbiont . The various forms of symbiosis include:
In some cases, the term symbiosis is used only if the association is obligatory and benefits both organisms. Symbiosis as defined in this article does not restrict the term to only the mutually beneficial interactions. Symbiosis may be divided into two distinct categories: Ectosymbiosis and Endosymbiosis . In ectosymbiosis, the symbiont lives on the body surface of the host, including the inner surface of the Digestive tract or the ducts of Exocrine glands. In endosymbiosis, the symbiont lives either in the intracellular space of the host or extracellularly. An example of mutual symbiosis is the relationship between Clownfish of the genus Amphiprion (family, Pomacentridae ) that dwell among the Tentacle s of tropical Sea Anemone s. The territorial Fish protects the anemone from anemone- Eating fish, and in turn the Stinging tentacles of the anemone protect the clownfish from its Predator s (a special Mucus on the clownfish protects it from the stinging tentacles). species live in symbiosis with a Shrimp .]] Another example is the Goby Fish , which sometimes lives together with a Shrimp . The shrimp digs and cleans up a burrow in the sand in which both the shrimp and the goby fish live. The shrimp is almost blind leaving it vulnerable to predators when above ground. In case of danger the goby fish touches the shrimp with its tail to warn it. When that happens both the shrimp and goby fish quickly retract into the burrow. A famous land version of symbiosis is the relationship of the Egyptian Plover bird and the Crocodile . In this relationship, the Bird is well known for preying on Parasite s that feed on crocodiles which are potentially harmful for the Animal . To that end, the crocodile openly invites the bird to hunt on his body, even going so far as to open the Jaw s to allow the bird enter the mouth safely to hunt. For the bird's part, this relationship not only is a ready source of Food , but a safe one considering that few predator Species would dare strike at the bird at such close proximity to its host. The biologist Lynn Margulis , famous for the work on Endosymbiosis , contends that symbiosis is a major driving force behind Evolution . She considers Darwin's notion of evolution, driven by Competition , as incomplete, and claims evolution is strongly based on Co-operation , Interaction , and Mutual Dependence among organisms. According to Margulis and Sagan (1986), " Life did not take over the Globe by Combat , but by Networking ". As in Human s, organisms that cooperate with others of their own or different species often outcompete those that don't. However, mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism are often not discrete categories of Interaction s and should rather be perceived as a continuum of interaction ranging from parasitism to mutualism. For example, the Oxpecker birds of Africa were thought to be living a mutualistic existence by picking parasites off large mammals including Buffalo , Elephant s and Zebra . However, it was recently realised that while the birds do do this, they sometimes also keep wounds on the animals' skin open, and feed on the exuding blood. Hence the relationship between Oxpecker s and their hosts is sometimes mutualistic and sometimes parasitic. In fact, the direction of a symbiotic interaction can change during the Lifetime of the symbionts due to developmental changes as well as changes in the biotic/abiotic Environment in which the interaction occurs. SEE ALSO SYMBIOTIC a dual partnership encorporating 2 or more fauna or flora
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