Page 117 - One Million Things: Animal Life - The Incredible Visual Guide

Fly provides a
free ride

PEARLFISH AND SEA CUCUMBER
The eel-like pearlfish spends its days
protected inside the sea cucumber. At
nightfall, it exits through its host’s anus to
feed. In the morning, it waits for the anus
to open, then swims back in.
Pearlfish
emerges
from sea
cucumber’s
anus

Sea cucumber
lives on the CLEANER SHRIMP
seabed
AND MORAY EEL
This cleaner shrimp should be a
tasty snack for a moray eel, or
any of its other “client” fish.
Yet the shrimp remains
unharmed as it removes
Pseudoscorpion
Cleaner irritating parasites from uses pincers to
shrimp the predator’s skin,
removes earning itself a meal. latch on
parasites

PSEUDOSCORPION AND INSECT
Tiny, clawed arachnids, pseudoscorpions
employ a unique means of transportation
to find new places to feed. They use their
pincers to hang on to a handy fly, beetle,
wasp, or other big insect, as they are flown
to a new location. Only the pseudoscorpion
benefits, but their host is not harmed.

Moray eel
remains still

Dugong is Remora
not hurt by attaches to host
the remora
REMORA AND PARTNER
Commensalism is well illustrated by tropical
remora fish. They use a suckerlike pad on top
of their heads to attach to sharks, turtles, or
marine mammals called dugongs. The
remora gets free transportation, while its
partner neither gains nor loses anything.

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