The giant clams themselves don't perform photosynthesis but host symbiotic algae on their mantle, which do it for them. These algae, known as zooxanthellae, live symbiotically with the clams and ...

Lichens on stone, those "still explosions" as the great American poet Elizabeth Bishop named them, remain unseen to most, ...

Similar to corals, giant clams are facing increasing threats from climate change. When the ocean water becomes too warm, the clams expel the symbiotic algae from their tissues. Without the algae, the ...

Heart cockles have shells with built-in skylights to let in light for symbiotic algae. Photo by Dakota McCoy ... First author Dakota McCoy said, “After looking at the shells under a scanning ...

In return, the algae ... clams’ symbiotic algae or their own delicate tissues. Evolutionary biophysicist Dakota McCoy, of the University of Chicago, and her colleagues performed microscope ...

A handful of mollusc species, however, have formed symbiotic partnerships with algae that live within their tissues. These individuals augment their diet with sugars that their microscopic ...

Modern reef building corals evolved in the Triassic Period around 250 million years ago. They can live in symbiosis with tiny organisms, often algae, that can carry out photosynthesis. This ...

Analysis of fossilised reefs has revealed the chemical signature of ancient algae, suggesting their symbiotic relationship dates back to the Devonian Period. One of the most important relationships in ...

University of Exeter scientists studied a single-celled organism (Paramecium bursaria) which can absorb and host algae (Chlorella spp). This pairing is common in freshwater worldwide, and their ...

The sun's intense rays, which can sunburn swimmers and divers that flock to these reefs, cause similar damage to coral and zooxanthellae, the symbiotic ... look at them under the microscope ...

This acoel is a marine worm with symbiotic algae that is capable of regeneration ... these interactions are now becoming vulnerable points under the challenge of climate change, causing symbiotic ...