Evidence of Symbiosis (IMAGE)

Princeton University

Evidence of Symbiosis

Caption

The mutually beneficial relationship between corals and algae arose when corals were rapidly expanding despite their nutrient-poor marine environment, which suggests that symbiosis is crucial to reef health. Brown dots in a sample of modern coral tissue (left) indicate algae that are creating nutrients through photosynthesis that are passed on to corals. Symbiotic corals exhibit banded growth patterns (right, indicated by red arrows) that correspond to the availability of daylight.

Credit

Photo courtesy of Jaroslaw Stolarski, Polish Academy of Sciences, and Isabelle Domart-Coulon, National Museum of Natural History

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Photo courtesy of Jaroslaw Stolarski, Polish Academy of Sciences, and Isabelle Domart-Coulon, National Museum of Natural History

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