Predator - the organism that does the killing, usually followed by the eating
(exception: a mother bird preserving food for the babies)
A lion is a common example for a predator because it is the king of the forest, or whatever environment is resides in. It has power over the other animals, its prey, because of its growls, teeth, strength, pouncing abilities, etc. It can eat the smaller animals that reside along with it in the forest. Another example of a predator are us, humans. All humans, including vegetarians and vegans, have at one point in their lives eaten meat. The meat could have been chicken, beef, pork, etc. and they all count making all humans predators.
Prey -the ones that get eaten by the predators (almost everything is both a predator and prey)
The fish can be eaten by organisms such as larger fish, cats, humans, or other organisms. Usually, the size of the organism can determine whether or not it has power in its environment. The gigantic sharks would never be the prey in the ocean, but it would be prey to humans. Small fish like this are prey to many different sea creatures that reside in the ocean.
Parasitism - this is where one organism lives inside another respective organism in order to cause harm/damage/pain to it
Here, the ticks are getting blood from the bird. Only the ticks benefit from this type of situation which makes the relationship between the ticks and bird, parasitic. For the most part, these parasites will never kill the host, which is almost always larger than the parasites themselves.
Mutualism - a relationship in which the two organisms benefit with the presence of the other organism
In this picture, neither the butterfly nor flower are receiving any type of harm from the opposing organism. The butterfly can get nectar from the flower and in return, the butterfly helps the flower bloom and reproduce. This is very common between insects and flowers.
Commensalism - a relationship where one organism, of the two, benefits and the other organism neither receives additional benefits or pain
Barnacles and different sea animals is example of commensalism. While the animal, whatever it may be, travels across the ocean, the barnacles gain access to nutrient rich waters in which it would not have simply as a barnacle. Additionally, the sea animal's leftover food becomes the barnacle's food. The sea animal feels no pain, and the barnacle benefits from it.
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