Tensile tests and creep tests were performed on the dermis of the sea cucumber Stichopus chloronotus (Brandt). Chemical stimulation of the dermis with coelomic fluid of the sea cucumber, or with artificial sea water containing a high concentration of potassium, increased both the elastic stiffness and the viscosity. Methanol extraction of the coelomic fluid revealed two factors: a methanol-soluble factor that stiffens the dermis, and a methanol-insoluble factor that softens it. These factors

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... ected the mechanical properties of other echinoderm connective tissue (the catch apparatus of sea-urchin spine) in a similar way to the holothurian dermis.