Zoanthids and barnacles

Description:

Description: English: “The photo was taken during my field work of Ph.D research work on intertidal community structure. The captured moment shows high competition for space in two different invertebrate community -zoanthid (Cnidarian) and barnacle (Arthropod). Zoanthid is a colonial Cnidarian found in intertidal zone to deep sea water while barnacles are sessile, but these both animals are benthos and require space for settlement. The present picture indicates the expansion of zoanthids around previously settled live barnacles and they almost cover some small ones. Now, juveniles of barnacles will not get the space for settlement and zoanthid polyps will continue expanding by budding and will cover and grown on all live barnacles.”. Date: 30 December 2013, 09:29:40. Source: BMC Ecology image competition 2014: the winning images. BMC Ecology 2014, 14:24 doi:10.1186/s12898-014-0024-6. Author: Paresh Poriya (Saurashtra University).