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Coral reefs are home to a variety of dinoflagellate symbiont, [10] these symbionts give coral its bright coloring and are vital for the survival of the reef. The symbionts provide the coral with food in exchange for protection. If the waters warm or become too acidic, the symbionts are expelled, the coral bleaches and if conditions persist the ...
Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. [1] This is in contrast with mutualism , in which both organisms benefit from each other; amensalism , where one is harmed while the other is unaffected; and parasitism , where one is ...
There are two major regions of coral reef development recognized; the Indo-Pacific (which includes the Pacific and Indian Oceans as well as the Red Sea), and the tropical western Atlantic (also known as the "wider" or "greater" Caribbean). Each of these two regions contains its own unique coral reef fish fauna with no natural overlap in species.
Beavers are an example of such engineers. Other examples include earthworms, trees, coral reefs, and planktonic organisms. Such 'network engineers' can be seen as "interaction modifiers", meaning that a change in their population density affects the interactions between two or more other species.
Cleaning symbiosis is a relationship between a pair of animals of different species, involving the removal and subsequent ingestion of ectoparasites, diseased and injured tissue, and unwanted food items from the surface of the host organism (the client) by the cleaning organism (the cleaner). [5]
The crab-coral interaction described above is also an example of refuge from competition, since the herbivory of crabs on seaweed reduces competition between coral and seaweed. [12] Similarly, herbivory by sea urchins ( Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis ) on kelps ( Laminaria spp.) can protect mussels ( Modiolus modiolus ) from overgrowth by ...
Reefs often consist of stony corals, one of the most well-known examples of a mutualistic symbiosis, in which the dinoflagellate alga Symbiodiniaceae supplies the coral with glucose, glycerol, and amino acids, while the coral provides the algae with a protected environment and limiting compounds (e.g., nitrogen species) needed for ...
Commonly studied cleaner fish are the cleaner wrasse of the genus Labroides found on coral reefs in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. [ 8 ] Neon gobies of the genera Gobiosoma and Elacatinus provide a cleaning service similar to the cleaner wrasse, though this time on reefs in the Western Atlantic , providing a good example of convergent ...