The crucial role of insects in the pollination of flowering plants is well known, but algal fertilization assisted by marine animals was hitherto deemed non-existent. A team led by a CNRS researcher from the Franco-Chilean Evolutionary Biology and Ecology of Algae research unit at Roscoff Marine Station has discovered that small crustaceans known as idoteas contribute to the reproductive cycle of the red alga Gracilaria gracilis. The scientists' findings are published in Science. They suggest that animal-mediated fertilization is much older than once thought.