Deep Sea Symbiosis | The Key to Survival

[Music] in order to survive the challenging environment of the deep ocean many organisms have turned to one of nature's fundamental ecological associations symbiosis the name for any kind of a close and long-term interaction between two different organisms this phenomenon is found in nearly every ecosystem on the planet allowing organisms to rely on others for food shelter or to act as warning for nearby danger but nowhere else on earth are creatures more uniquely adapted to relying on others than in the deep sea a world of darkness cold and intense pressure let's dive in and take a closer look at the incredible role of symbiosis in the deep sea ecosystem we'll begin by examining the most common type of symbiosis mutualism which is best simplified by the phrase you feed me i feed you you might at first think of clownfish relying on anemones for protection in turn providing nutrients through their excrement but increasingly deep sea exploration uncovers some truly unique cases of organisms depending on one another forming a relationship that ensures the survival of both organisms or symbionts involved in many cases a relationship will form between a microbe and a host the micro provides food for the host while in return the host provides the microbe with protection from predators they both benefit making this relationship a form of mutualism mutualism often forms between bacteria and a wide range of host animals including corals mussels and tube worms at deep sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps here the water that wells up from below the sea floor is rich in minerals for the bacteria to convert into food and energy to be specific these compounds are hydrogen sulfide and methane both are toxic to animals but certain specialized bacteria are able to use the chemicals to make the organic matter that animals rely on [Music] this process is known as chemosynthesis think of it as an alternative to photosynthesis but where nutrients are made by converting chemical energy rather than light energy gigantic odd-looking tube worms grow in clusters around vents and cold seeps unusual creatures for they have no stomach guts or mouth this is because they instead contain a troposome a large organ containing billions of the chemosynthetic bacteria the tube worms are specifically adapted to being a symbiont in this relationship the stable nature of the vents has allowed the worms to evolve over millions of years to possess these important physical characteristics including a long root that collects hydrogen sulfide from the sediment and plumes that collect oxygen from the water both the oxygen and the chemicals are transported to the troposome where the bacteria use them and carbon dioxide to produce organic molecules without the tube worms troposome providing them with a constant supply of these key ingredients the single-celled bacteria would have a hard time gathering it all in one place one hundred percent of the tube worms nutrition is provided by the bacteria undergoing this process symbiosis is so important to these organisms that they simply would not be able to survive without it life needs energy without bacteria taking refuge within towering tube worms the worms would obtain no energy and life here would be impossible especially as photosynthesis is not an option down where the sunlight cannot reach this example of mutualism is not only vital for the survival of the tube worms and mussels [Music] it also supports an abundance of other organisms that rely on the tube worms and thus form complex communities at vents and cold seeps that simply would not exist if not for the worm bacteria symbiosis crabs eels isopods and fish all use tube worms and mussels as sources of food or shelter these animals are called associates to put it simply the bacteria need to live inside the worms and muscles in order to gain the ingredients for chemosynthesis the tube worms need the bacteria to live inside them in order to synthesize the nutrients and energy they need and the associates need the worms and muscles as a source of prey it all comes back to symbiosis the key to survival is working together consider the female anglerfish bioluminescence is a vital adaptation to have in the deep but standing out is advantageous when it comes to luring the scarce prey population but anglerfish cannot produce their own bioluminescence instead they turn to symbiosis and allow glowing photobacteria to take shelter in their fleshy law called an eska but symbiosis does not just mean that both partners have to benefit in fact it describes a variety of close relationships between organisms sometimes one organism benefits from causing harm to the other like worms isopods and copepods infecting host species such as crabs and fish this is parasitism let's take a look [Music] parasites often get a bad reputation for their role as bloodsuckers and vectors for disease but parasitism is no less important than mutualism to the deep sea ecosystem parasites are key components of food webs and overall they can be an indicator of a healthy ecosystem they control populations of dominant species allowing rarer competitors to thrive also parasitism can lead to mutualism in shallow reefs animals with parasites visit cleaner stations to have their parasites removed by shrimps and small fish the small fish get a meal out of eating the parasites and the host gets some relief by being rid of the parasites let's examine the case of the greenland shark they are often seen with a long white parasitic copepod attached to the corneas of their eyes called a matakoita elongata which causes blindness in the sharks the deep-dwelling long-living oceanic wanderer is remarkably well adapted to the deep sea its large size is an example of abyssal gigantism allowing it to be more efficient in the nutrient-poor depths its slow metabolism provides a similar benefit but one thing that the greenland shark does not rely on in the deep dark sea is eyesight unlike many organisms that have evolved large light-sensitive eyes to see better greenland sharks instead have opted to rely more on their acute sense of smell to detect prey and carrying their eyes are fairly useless even if not for the parasite this means that while the parasites benefit from living on the sharks they don't do much to hinder the survival of the greenland shark thus the relationship is potentially not parasitism at all but rather it may be an example of the third kind of symbiosis commensalism when one organism benefits without helping or harming the other a good example of a commensal relationship is found on the skin of whales the whale reaps no benefit from the presence of barnacles that attach themselves to its body but neither does it suffer due to their presence the barnacle however is a filter feeder and makes use of the wandering nature of the whale in order to be exposed to the plankton-rich waters of the open ocean this gives barnacles a significant advantage over other filter feeders that are fixed in one position and must compete for space on the rocks overall symbiosis is a key ecological association in the extreme deep sea ecosystem with nutrient production from sunlight impossible hemosynthetic bacteria must fill the role of food producers their reliance on other organisms shows that symbiosis upholds nearly all biological communities in the deep sea we find that it allows animals to thrive in habitats and adapt to live in ways that would not otherwise be possible without their symbiotic counterpart through symbiosis they thrive through cooperation they conquer it is an extraordinary phenomenon showing off the resilience of life to the extreme conditions of the abyss thanks for watching check out the brand new deep sea hub over on our website for more facts and footage about the deep sea see you next time [Music] you

Channel: Natural World Facts

Views: 176,987

Rating: 4.9422698 out of 5

Keywords: deep sea, deep sea wonders, symbiosis, simbiosis, mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, deep sea creatures, marine biology, symbiosis explained, symbiosis explanation, mutualism explained

Id: B3gRQEOC6M4

Length: 10min 59sec (659 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 29 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Corundum_]

Symbiosis doesn’t mean the creatures help each other out necessarily. The thumbnail is literally a parasitic symbiosis with a Greenland shark.