Day 6- Symbiotic Relationships

Today is my 6th day exploring this large and vast desert. My goal today was to find examples of each symbiotic relationship between two species. The first relationship I found was mutualism between a Goby fish and a Shrimp. When a predator would come near the burrow in which the fish and shrimp are living, the fish touches the shrimp with its tail as a warning. Then, both the fish and the shrimp retreat to the burrow for safety until the predator is gone. From this relationship, the shrimp benefits by receiving a warning of danger, and the fish benefits by getting a safe retreat and a place to lay it’s eggs.
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Pistol Shrimp and Gobi Fish


The second relationship I found was commensalism between a hermet crab and a snail.  Hermit crabs benefit by using the shells of dead snails for home, while the snail is unaffected.


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Hermit Crab and Snail

The third relationship I discovered was parasitism between coyotes and fleas. The fleas hungrily latched onto the coyote in order to suck their blood to gain nutrients. In this relationship, the fleas benefit, while the coyote is harmed.
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Coyote and Fleas 


The final relationship I noticed was predation between a badger and a desert tortoise. The tortoise feeds from smaller species while hiding from the predator that is he badger. The badger hunts the tortoise as one of its daily meals. The badger benefits because it is able to consume food for energy, however this killed the tortoise in the process. I could not find an example of an ammensalism relationship because it is the rarest symbiotic relationship and the desert happens to not contain it. I learned a lot today and I cannot wait to learn and experience more!


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Badger and Desert Tortoise 



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