Question

Name the type of interaction seen in each of the following examples. Clown fish living among the tentacles of sea anemone.

Answer 1

Hint: Organisms occupy a niche which includes space in which they live, how they use the resources available and how they interact with other organisms. There are six types of relationships between organisms. Every organism lives together in an ecosystem.

Complete answer:
Ecological interactions are effects organisms have on each other in a community. Every organism depends on others for survival. There are six types of ecological interactions:
-Mutualism- both the species benefit from each other.
-Commensalism- one species is benefitted and the other remains unaffected.
-Neutralism- population does not affect one another.
-Commensalism- one species is unaffected and the other is disadvantaged.
-Parasitism or predation- one species is benefitted and another is disadvantaged.
-Competition- each species is affected.

Clown fish living among sea tentacles is an example of mutualism. Sea anemone are predators attached to corals or rocks. They have tentacles that shoot out a long poisonous thread when a fish comes near to it. On the other hand, clownfish are one of the only species that can survive from the attack of sea anemone. Clownfish make the anemone their home. The fishes gently touch their bodies to sea anemone until it stops affecting them and thereby a layer of mucus is formed over the clownfish’s body to prevent them from getting stung.
Sea anemone serves the purpose of being a clown fish's home and also protects the fish from predators whereas clownfish helps sea anemone by luring other fishes towards it, so that sea anemone can catch them. Clownfish also eats dead tentacles of sea anemone, keeping it clean.

Note: Some people argue that the relationship between sea anemone and clownfish is commensalism as the clownfish gets protection from the predators by living in the tentacles of sea anemone but sea anemone does not derive any benefits from the clownfish. Both mutualism and commensalism are symbiotic relationships.