aquatilis

aquatilis is a Latin adjective used in biological nomenclature as a species epithet to indicate a relationship with water. The word derives from aqua, water, with the suffix -tilis meaning “pertaining to” or “able to live in.” In the Linnaean naming system, aquatilis is appended to a genus name to form a species epithet that signals an aquatic habitat. It is widely used across taxa, especially among plants and aquatic animals. The epithet typically indicates that the organism lives in water environments—freshwater, brackish, or marine—or that it has a life stage or morphology associated with water. However, the presence of aquatilis does not guarantee a strictly aquatic lifestyle, as epithets may reflect collection sites, historical notes, or other water-related characteristics observed by the describer.

Examples of taxonomic groups that may bear aquatilis include vascular plants such as sedges and reeds, mosses, algae, mollusks, crustaceans, and fish, among others. The epithet is one of many descriptive Latin terms used in taxonomy to convey habitat, morphology, or geography.