Relating to or belonging to the family Bacillariaceae; characteristic of diatoms of this family; resembling or composed of diatom algae.
From Bacillariaceae (the family name) plus -aceous (Latin suffix meaning of or pertaining to, composed of). The -aceous ending indicates biological characteristics or composition, as in herbaceous or cretaceous.
The -aceous suffix is pure Latin taxonomy poetry—herbaceous plants are herb-like, cretaceous rocks are chalky, and bacillariaceous organisms are diatom-like, which means the suffix name literally tells you what the thing is like, making scientific terms mini-definitions if you know your Latin.
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