Question

1. Describe where mesoglea is found, i.e., what part of what organisms. Describe what it is made out of. Give 3 functions of mesoglea. Finally, where can you sometimes find it outdoors, naturally occurring in San Francisco?

Answer 1

Mesoglea

Mesoglea, also known as mesohyl, is the translucent, non-living, jelly-like substances. The mesoglea layer lies between the ectoderm and the innermost tissue layer called endoderm of coelenterates, is thin in small species and massive in large ones. It forms a flexible skeleton, associated with supporting muscle fibres on both the ectodermal and endodermal sides.

Functions

• Independent movement and growth makes it impossible to imagine the mesoglea as a cement holding the two cell layers together.
• Functions as a hydrostatic skeleton.
• The mesoglea serves as an internal skeleton, supporting the body.
• Mesoglea's elastic properties help restore the shape after it is deformed by the contraction of muscles.