Tags: Anatomical Structure.
Glycocalyx is a general term referring to extracellular polymeric material (glycoprotein) produced by some bacteria epithelia and other cells. For instance the slime on the outside of a fish is considered to be a glycocalyx. The term was initially applied to the polysaccharide matrix excreted by epithelial cells that forms a coating on the surface of epithelial tissue but its functions have been discovered to go well beyond that.