Final answer:
Xandhit érikes benefit from having many offspring with genetic variations that are independent from their parents, which provides a higher survival chance when facing environmental changes, in contrast to surfish that invest in long-term parental care and have fewer offspring, potentially reducing survival chances.
Step-by-step explanation:
An advantage for xandhit érikes to have offspring that are freed from their parents, as compared to surfish, when facing changes in their environment would be the increased genetic variation leading to higher chances of survival for the offspring. Xandhit érikes that do not practice long-term parental care have more offspring, which is an energy tradeoff aimed at maximizing evolutionary fitness. When environmental changes occur, this strategy leads to a higher number of offspring having diverse genetic material, which can potentially increase the odds of some offspring possessing traits that help them survive in the new conditions. On the other hand, organisms that invest in long-term parental care, such as surfish, typically have fewer offspring. This means there's a greater risk to the survival of the species when any single offspring dies, especially in the face of environmental changes that may negatively impact those few offspring. The ability of xandhit érikes' offspring to be self-sufficient at an early age also enables them to disperse and utilize different resources, which could be beneficial when their habitat is undergoing changes.