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The Mutual Affair
Have you ever noticed and wondered why Coral Reefs out skirting the southern islands of Singapore appear to be in various colours? This is due to the presence of Mutualistic Relationship between the...
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Alpheus sp. & Istigobius sp.: Best Friends Forever (BFF)
Alpheus macellarius-Cryptocentrus maudae Interaction (photograph from ‘The annotated budak’) Gobies (Istigobius sp.) and snapping shrimps (Alpheus sp.) are marine organisms common to the Singapore...
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Look closely, the caterpillar isn’t dead.
Caterpillar (to ant): Hey, let’s make a deal. If I supply you with food, will you give me protection against predators? Studies have shown that certain species of butterfly larvae (in particular Family...
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Cassiopea spp. and the case of undersea mutualism.
Cassiopea sp., photographed personally on 27 Feb 2010 from the shores of Pulau Semakau, Singapore. Sea anemone? Soft coral? A dead jellyfish? An upside-down jellyfish? If your guess was the latter, you...
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Microhabitat and Relationships: Mushrooms
Ever thought of something growing right beside your steps? This is noticed when I hopped down the slope at King Edward VII Hall in NUS. It is a mushroom. It seems that it is most probably under the...
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Termites?Don’t blame them!
Many of us detest termites, as we think that they are the culprit behind the destruction of our wood furnitures. However, as what I have chanced upon through reading (for another module to be exact=p),...
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An inter-species relationship – when love is reciprocated.
The parent’s shelter may not always be the best for the child. This may be the most apt description for the clownfish (anemonefish), whose true protectors in the coral reef ecosystems are the sea...
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Here Kitty, Kitty!
Whenever I tell someone I own 4 cats, I’m often met with a look of concealed surprise before they say, “Oh, well… that’s…umm…nice?” which not-so-secretly translates to “Oh my god, she’s one of those...
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Figs can be parasites too!
(Picture from van Noort and Rasplus, depicting fig-wasps emerging from the gall flowers) It is rather well-known that figs (Ficus sp.) serve as keystone species in Singapore’s forests. These plants...
View Articlethe perfect symbionts?
The sea anemones and the clown fish are well known to be a mutualistic pair and lot of research have been done about this pair of symbionts. We can also say that this relationship is a near perfect one...
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