ABSTRACT
The visco-elastic properties of the body-wall connective tissue (mesogloea) of the sea anemone Metridium senile were previously studied by Alexander (1962). He carried out creep tests (extension under constant stress) over long periods of time and observed that the tissue could be extended reversibly to over three times its initial length with very small forces. The material behaved very nearly like a single Voigt element with a retardation time of about 3500 sec. Although Alexander did not propose any specific molecular mechanism to account for the extensibility and apparent slow elasticity, he did note that collagen is thought to be a major component of mesogloea and suggested that the collagen must play a major role in determining the mechanical properties of the tissue.
