HIDDEN PLANET When we think of something as being hidden we normally imagine a creature that is out of sight or cleverly disguised as something else Perhaps it is cunning shy or sly Maybe it is small or comes out only under the cover of darkness It may live deep in a rainforest or in a cave bury itself in the sand or spend its life high in the treetops There are also hidden relationships between species that might seem otherwise unconnected For many years humans have invented fantastical stories to explain these connections One more secret of Planet Earth can be found in the unexpected abilities and behaviours of some of the creatures we think we already know The creatures in this book are hidden in some or all of these ways
HIDDEN RELATIONSHIPS One example of the sometimes hidden relationships between different species is symbiosis which is when two or more organisms live closely together There are three main kinds of symbiotic relationship commensalism mutualism and parasitism Each of these relationships has multiple versions with different characteristics but all require a certain amount of balance between the species involved Commensalism In a commensal relationship one organism benefits while the other is neither harmed nor helped Many bird species such as the southern carmine bee eater for example perch on the backs of elephants and other large animals feeding on the insects disturbed by the bigger creatures movements Southern carmine bee eater Merops nubicoides 10
Bluestreak cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus Goatfish Family Mullidae Mutualism In a mutualistic relationship both species benefit and in some cases cannot survive without one another For example when an insect bird or bat feeds on nectar from a flower then visits other flowers of the same species both the plant and the creature benefit The animal gets an energy rich meal in the form of the nectar and in turn carries pollen to the next plant which helps the plant to reproduce Some birds and fish feed on the parasites that infest the skin of larger animals Oxpeckers for example feed on the parasites on oxen and cleaner wrasse on grouper fish In different circumstances the bigger animal might have made a meal of the Bumblebee small bird or fish but instead both species benefit Genus Bombus the smaller one gets a meal while the larger is kept free of irritating pests Parasitism In a parasitic relationship one organism the parasite benefits at the expense of the other the host Perhaps the parasite feeds on the host's blood like a vampire bat or mosquito does or it gets the unwitting host to raise its babies either alongside or instead of the host's own like some birds fish and insects do However even a parasitic relationship requires a great deal of balance as the parasite needs the host to live long enough for the parasite to accomplish its goal Mosquito Family Culicidae II
