Living beings in nature react to each other and enter into relationships in many ways. One such type of communication between two organisms is commensalism, or parasiticism. Examples of such relationships in nature are quite common. Consider the most striking of them.
Definition of freeloading (commensalism)
Relationships formed between organisms that interact in nature can be symbiotic. One type of symbiosis is called freeloading, where one organism benefits from the relationship while the other species is neither benefited nor harmed. In total, there are four areas of benefit:
- Food.
- Housing.
- Transportation.
- Scattering seeds.
Types of commensalism
Most environmental experts group commensal relationships into the following types:
- Chemical commensalism is most commonly seen between two speciesbacteria, one of which feeds on chemicals or waste from the other.
- Inquilinism - one animal uses the body or body cavity of another organism as a refuge or living space.
- Entoykia is a form of commensalism that occurs when one species inadvertently creates a home inside another's cavity, but has access to the outside.
- Phoresia occurs when one organism attaches itself to another organism for the purpose of transportation.
- Sinoikiya (lodging) occurs when one living being uses another being or its dwelling as its home.
Examples of freeloading
Commensalism is a scientific term that characterizes the relationship between two living creatures from different species, in which one of the organisms benefits for itself, while the other, as they say, is neither hot nor cold. Often commensalism occurs between a large animal and a smaller one. Here are some examples of freeloading:
- Some shells cannot move on their own and attach themselves to certain sea creatures such as whales. The former benefit from being able to transport across the ocean. The latter receive neither benefit nor harm from this connection.
- The egret follows herds of cattle and feeds on the insects that pursue them.
- The monarch butterfly extracts a poisonous chemical from the spurge plant and stores it in its body to protect againstpredators.
- Remora fish and shark are a good example of commensalism.
The term "commensalism"
Commensalism is the scientific term for freeloading. In terms of time, this type of relationship can be quite short, or it can look like a lifelong symbiosis. The term was coined in 1876 by the Belgian paleontologist and zoologist Pierre-Joseph van Beneden, who originally applied the word to describe the activities of accompanying animals that followed predators to finish eating their prey. The word "commensalism" comes from the Latin word commensalis, which means "separation, at the same table" (com - together, mensa - meal).
Examples of freeloading are very common. Wood frogs use plants as protection. Jackals expelled from the pack will follow the tiger to get hold of the remnants of his meal. The little fish live on other marine animals, changing color to blend in with their hosts, thus gaining protection from predators.
Burdock produces thorny seeds that cling to animal fur or people's clothing. Plants rely on this seed dispersal method to reproduce while animals are not affected.
Freeloading: examples of animals and plants
Often one organism uses another for permanent housing. An exampleis a bird that lives in the hollow of a tree. Sometimes epiphytic plants growing on trees do not harm the cohabitant, while others can be real parasites and negatively affect the tree, taking away nutrients from it.
Also, commensalistic relationships are those in which one organism forms a habitat for another. An example of freeloading in this case is a hermit crab - here a shell from a dead gastropod is used for protection. Another example would be larvae living on a dead organism.
An animal is attached to another for transportation. This type of commensalism is most common in arthropods such as insect-eating mites. Other examples include the anemone attachment to the shells of hermit crabs, pseudoscorpions that live on mammals, and millipedes that travel by birds.
Commensal organisms can form communities within the host organism. An example of such freeloading is the bacterial flora found on human skin. Scientists debate whether the microbiota is truly a type of commensalism. For example, in the case of skin flora, there is evidence that bacteria confer some protection on the host (which would be reciprocated).
Pets and commensalism
Dogs, cats and other animals also seem to have commensal relationships with humans. It is believed that the ancestors of dogs followed hunters to eatcarcass remains. Over time, the "cooperation" became mutual, with humans also taking advantage of the relationship to gain protection from other predators and help track prey.
Sea "freeloaders"
Examples of parasitism in nature are relationships between individuals of two species, in which one species receives food or other benefits from the other without harming or benefiting the latter. A pilot fish swims alongside a great white shark. Thanks to the flat oval sucking disk structure at the top of the head, the remora fish sticks to its host's body. Both of these freeloader fish feed on the remnants of their owners' food. One of the best-known examples of commensalism in the ocean is the relationship that exists between clones and sea anemones.
Examples of paraphernalia in biology clearly show the symbiotic relationship between organisms, which is beneficial for one of them, and neutral for the other. Many cases of commensalism are surrounded by controversy, as there is always the possibility that the commensal host also benefits or is harmed in a way as yet unknown to science.
Relationships of this type are of great importance in nature, as they promote closer cooperation between species, more efficient development of space and enrichment of the diversity of food resources.
