Mutualistic relationships in the coral reefs are important because they are the basis for a lot of the sea creatures’ entire lives. A lot of these symbiotic relationships are long-standing and have become extremely efficient. The question is how are these relationships formed and what allows these associations to take place in coral reefs?
Certain animals have even evolved to make them better suited for certain relationships. Many fish are very well suited for these relationships because of their bodily features. These features are crucial to these organisms’ survival. The crab Lybia Tesselata evolved to hold anemones. The configuration of their claws is different from that of most crabs. The crabs are well-suited to hold the small anemones, while the crabs are still functioning. “The anemone is held in place by small ‘teeth’ on the crab's claw which grip it [the anemone] firmly…. This relationship must be a very longstanding one in evolutionary terms, as the original function of the claw was to break up food and put it into the mouth. Such tasks are now
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The main outcome is life. All of these contributing factors lead to the organisms’ being able to reproduce. The sea creatures that are still in existence due to symbiotic relationships are very important to the ocean, and even to our world. Every sea creature in the ocean matters in some way. If all the species that are existent due to their associations were to go extinct, then it could create a large chain reaction that would inevitably devastate the oceans. This would also affect humans because a lot of our diets consist of fish. Without fish, there would be many starving people. Fish oil is also used to prevent many diseases. These symbiotic relationships are extremely important, because they keep a certain balance in the oceans, which in turn balances our