Protocooperation is the ecological interaction in which both participants benefit and that is not obligatory for their survival.
Protocooperation is a harmonious (positive) interspecific ecological interaction. Examples of protocooperation are: the action of the spurwinged plover that using its beak eats residuals from crocodile teeth? the removal of ectoparasites from the back of bovines by some birds that eat the parasites? the hermit crab that live inside shells over which sea anemones live (these offer protection to the crab and gain mobility to obtain food).   _{Your Comment}