This symbiotic relationship between shrimps and eels has netizens in awe

The ‘cleaner’ ships often eat parasites and dead skin of other aquatic animals like eels in an attempt to get food and nutrition.

symbiotic relationship between shrimps and eels, remora fishes and shark relationship, viral fish and eel videos, Cleaner Shrimps and Moray Eels, viral underwater videos, indian express

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The underwater world at the depths of oceans is endlessly fascinating. Aquatic animals are not simplistic creatures who are only concerned with foraging or hunting. They have complex interspecies relationships with one another that promote their well-being.

A video documenting one such relationship is going viral with over 3.6 lakh views. The video shows a shrimp moving inside the mouth of a moray eel and then coming out to hover over it.

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Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3), a popular science-centric account, shared this video on Twitter Monday and explained, “Cleaner Shrimps and Moray Eels have a mutualistic relationship. These shrimp clean parasites, dead skin and algae around the moray eel’s eyes, gills, and teeth, they get a free meal, and the eel is cleared of its parasitic load.”

Cleaner Shrimps and Moray Eels have a mutualistic relationship

These shrimp clean parasites, dead skin and algae around the moray eel’s eyes, gills, and teeth, they get a free meal, and the eel is cleared of its parasitic load pic.twitter.com/2FbjxJTIhK

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) January 16, 2023

Commenting on this bizarre yet fascinating behaviour of shrimps and eels, a Twitter user wrote: “When I worked in a tropical fish shop the cleaner shrimp would always pick off any scabs they found on my hands while servicing their tanks.” Another person wrote, “I love to see symbiosis in nature. It’s a teaching moment when the simplest organisms show humans what they couldn’t imagine.”

This is not the only underwater symbiotic relationship that has been caught on camera. In 2020, a picture showing a group of remora fishes residing inside a shark’s mouth went viral. The remora fishes often feed off parasites on the shark’s skin and mouth and in exchange they get protection from predators. These fishes sometimes attach themselves to the bodies of friendly sharks while moving long distances.