Commensalism is a type of interaction that occurs in biology and consists of one party obtaining some benefit while the other does not, however it is not harmed. This expression comes from the Latin “com Mensa” and means “sharing a table”. At first, this ending was used to describe the waste food that was used by the second animal, such as scavengers that eat those that game animals leave behind.
A clear example of this term is the link established by lions as certain birds such as scavengers, since being in the same area they can take advantage of feeding on the remains of animals that are killed by felines, since these birds do not they know how to hunt.
Another type of commensal relationship is the one that exists between sharks and remoras, these are a species of fish that have a suction cup that allows them to adhere to the bodies of sharks without them noticing, in order to feed on the food scraps they leave behind.
In nature and more in the animal world there are many of these cases, such as field mice that live in a burrow and within them there are insects that eat the roots that are found there, as well as the remains that these rodents eat, this is a type of commensalism called "tenancy".
Other types are, phoresis and antibiosis.
The phoresis is nothing more than the use of a second animal to transport itself, an example of them are the fish that move on whales or sharks.
The antibiosis goes beyond the use of another animal because they create a link but after any of these dies, an example of this is the hermit crab using snail shell to live.
Just as there is commensalism, it is the opposite of this than amensalism and it is nothing more than the relationship between two living beings where one is harmed thanks to the actions of the other. An example of this, series large trees that block sunlight to smaller plants preventing them from living near them.
