the.com/commensalism
One species eats, rides, or squats for free; the other barely notices the bill.
means A relationship between two species where one gets a benefit — food, transport, shelter — while the other is neither helped nor harmed.
from Coined in the 19th century from Latin com- 'together' + mensa 'table' — literally 'eating at the same table.' The French naturalist Pierre-Joseph van Beneden used commensalisme to describe animals that shared another's food without harming it, picturing a guest quietly pulling up a chair at someone else's dinner.
- origin
- Latin for sharing a table, minus the sharing
- classic example
- remora fish hitchhiking on sharks for scraps
- spectrum trap
- often secretly tips into mutualism or parasitism
- not reciprocal
- host gains nothing, loses nothing, stays oblivious