Over at The Wild Side, evolutionary biologist and blogger Olivia Judson describes her favorite animal: the shrimp goby. This little fish teams up with shrimp, sharing the shrimp’s burrow and earning its keep by guarding the entrance. Judson writes:

The goby just sits in the entrance of the burrow, keeping guard and warning the shrimp, which is nearly blind, of danger. At any sign of danger — a diver coming too close, a passing predator — the goby darts into the burrow. If the goby zooms in, the shrimp hastily retreats deep inside. And before the shrimp emerges from the burrow, it touches the goby’s tail with its long antennae. To show it’s safe to come out, the goby gently wiggles its tail. When the shrimp is out of the burrow, it keeps one antenna touching the goby. If the goby suddenly retreats, so does the shrimp.

While the relationship between the shrimp and the shrimp goby is an amazing example of symbiosis, it’s by no means unique. To learn more about the ways animals of the same and differing species have evolved to benefit one and other, head over to NATURE’s Triumph of Life and watch a video about meerkats teaming up to elude a predator.