Epidermis (zoology)

In zoology, the epidermis is an epithelium (sheet of cells) that covers the body of a eumetazoan (animal more complex than a sponge).^[1][2] Eumetazoa have a cavity lined with a similar epithelium, the gastrodermis, which forms a boundary with the epidermis at the mouth.^[2]

Sponges have no epithelium, and therefore no epidermis or gastrodermis.^[2] The epidermis of a more complex invertebrate is just one layer deep, and may be protected by a non-cellular cuticle. The epidermis of a higher vertebrate has many layers, and the outer layers are reinforced with keratin and then die.^[3]

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