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Below the ectoderm of many animals, connective tissue forms sheets of varying complexity, existing as fine membranes or as complex superficial layers of fibres. Muscles inserted on the fibres form subepithelial complexes in many invertebrates; and vertebrate muscles are often inserted on firm sheets of connective tissue (fascia) deep in the body that are also formed by these fibres. Particular concentrations of collagen fibres, oriented in different directions, occur superficially in the soft-bodied Peripatus (a caterpillar-like terrestrial invertebrate). In coelenterates they also occur deep in the body. In many arthropods, collagen fibres form substantial endosternites (i.e., ridges on the inner ...(100 of 11436 words)