Symbiosis is the condition in which two or more dissimilar organisms live together. The symbiotic relationships these organisms share can be generalized into three major groups, commensalism, mutualism, and parasitism. There may be three separate groups,but often times the relationships inter-relate with one another, making it harder to classify the relationship they share. .
Commensalism is one of the categories in the continuum by which one species benefits from the relationship, but the other neither benefits nor is harmed. An example of such a relationship can be seen when barnacles attach to whales. The whale does not gain from this relationship, but the barnacles on the other hand gets a free ride to different places around the ocean they wouldn't have otherwise been able to go and they find more food.
Mutualism is the symbiotic relationship in which both organisms reap benefits. An example of this is clearly demonstrated in the example given in one of the web page links, which talks about the flower and the bee. It seems as though both organisms have coevolved into helping one another to survive, the flower gives nutrients to the bee and in return the bee insures the pollination of the plant. .
The last type of relationship is parasitism, in which one organism serves as a host to another organism causing harm to the host. One example of this is the torsalo fly, which burrows its larvae inside a warm-blooded animal, via a mosquito, and then lives as an internal parasite until it turns into an adult. .
I believe the web page about the sea slugs and the zooxanthellae, represents an example of a relationship that can't clearly be classified. It seems like the sea slugs are the only ones whom benefit, but it turns out that the zooxanthellae cannot live on its own and needs the slug. The symbiotic relationship between the two cannot be distinguished and doesn't quite fit into one of the types of relationships.
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