Symbiotic Relationships: Animal Buddies in Nature

Background Information:
Elements of any ecological system live in an intricate web of interdependence. When two species of organisms
live in close association with each other, their relationship is call “symbiotic”. In symbiotic relationships, at
least one of the organisms directly benefits from its close association with the other organism. There are three
major forms of symbiotic relationships:
Commensalism: a relationship in which one species derives food or shelter from another species without
seriously harming that organism or providing any benefits in return.
Mutualism: a reciprocal relationship in which the two different species benefit and are dependent upon the
relationship.
Parasitism: a relationship between two species in which one species (the parasite) nourishes itself to the
detriment of the other species (the host).

Define each of the following types of symbiotic relationships IN YOUR OWN WORDS:

1- COMMENSALISM:
Commensalism is when one species gains or benefits from existing near another species which isn’t affected by
the first species
2- MUTUALISM:
Mutualism is when two species benefit from each other and rely on each other.
3- PARASITISM:
Parasitism is when one species gains or benefits from another species detriment, but no death.
ANIMAL BUDDIES SYMBIOTIC EXPLANATION
RELATIONSHIPS
Badger Hone guide birds Mutualism Honey guide birds alert and direct badgers
to beehives. The badgers then expose the
hives and feed on the honey first. Next the
honey guide birds eat.

Barnacle Whale Commensalism Barnacles create home sites by attaching

themselves to whales.
Black sea bass Wrasse fish Mutualism Wrasse fish feed on the parasites found on
the black sea bass’ body

Cowbird Bison Commensalism As bison walk through grass, insects

become active and are seen and eaten by
cowbirds
Cuckoo Warbler Parasitism A cuckoo may lay its eggs in a warbler’s
nest. The cuckoo’s young will displace
the warbler’s young and warbler will raise
the cuckoo’s young
Deer Tick Parasitism Ticks feed on deer blood to the deer’s
detriment

Hermit crab Snail shell Commensalism Hermit crabs live in shells made and then
abandoned by the snails

Marabou stork Bee Commensalism The stork uses its saw-like bill to cut up
the dead animals it eats. As a result, the
dead animal carcass is accessible to some
bees for food and egg laying
 Symbiotic Relationships: Animal Buddies in Nature
Mistletoe Spruce tree Parasitism Mistletoe extracts water and nutrients
from the spruce tree to the tree’s
detriment

Mouse Flea Parasitism A flea feeds on a mouses blood to the

mouses detriment

Ostrich Gazelle Mutualism Ostriches and gazelles feed next to each

other. They both watch for predators and
alert each other to danger. Because the
visual abilities of the two species are
different, they each can identify threats
that the other animal would not see as
readily.
Oxpecker Rhinoceros Mutualism Oxpeckers feed on the ticks found on a
rhinoceros

Remora Shark Commensalism Remoras attach themselves to a shark’s

body. They travel with the shark and feed
on the leftover food scraps from the
shark’s meals
Silverfish Army ants Commensalism Silverfish live and hunt with army ants,
and share the prey
Yucca plant Yucca moth Mutualism Yucca flowers are pollinated by yucca
moths. The moths lay their eggs in the
flowers where the larvae hatch and eat
some of the developing seeds

Critical thinking questions:

1. Pick ONE PAIR of animals that form each of the three types of symbiotic relationships. Describe the
relationship IN YOUR OWN WORDS answering these types of questions: Why do they live together?
Is this more cooperative or competitive? What advantages AND disadvantages do they provide each
other? What would happen if one of the animal buddies were not there?

a. COMMENSALISM relationship Barnacle/Whale

Barnacles need a safe place and a mode of transport so they attach to a whale. It is cooperative,
not competitive because a whale doesn’t try to fight the barnacles. The advantage for the whale
are if its attacked or hit, the barnacles can take the blow sometimes, and the disadvantage is that
the whale is sometimes slowed. The advantages for the barnacles are it gains a mode of
transportation and gains a safe place, while there are little to no disadvantages. If the barnacles
weren’t there, the whales would be fine, if the whales weren’t there, the barnacles would
struggle.

b. MUTUALISM relationship Badger Honey guide birds

Badgers need to eat honey to survive as that is their diet, if they cannot find it, they die. Honey
guide birds also need honey and they can find it, but they can’t get it easily. They cooperate to
find and break open hives to get honey so they survive. They help mitigate each other’s
 Symbiotic Relationships: Animal Buddies in Nature
disadvantages and boost the advantages of each other, like the eyesight of the birds or the claws
of the badgers.

c. PARASITISM relationship Flea Mouse

The flea lives on the mouse and drinks the blood of the mouse to live. The mouse is harmed by
the flea and can’t get rid of it. If one of the species were to disappear, the mouse would benefit or
the flea would die.

2. Summary question: In AT LEAST 6 SENTENCES or more, and using specific examples from above,
EXPLAIN how cooperation and competition both exist in nature.
Cooperation and Competition both exist in nature. Some ways we can see this is the silverfish and army
ants. They cooperate to take down bigger threats and to gain food. When food available is down, the
species may fight to have the food available to them, rather than the other species. When a gazelle and
zebra are both drinking from a watering hole, the different ways of seeing predators are combined, they
can see most threats and warn the other of a threat, like a lion. When water is low, a zebra or gazelle
may only leave rather than warning the other species. This may occur because this will allow them to
have the watering hole to themselves.