radula

(redirected from radular)
Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia.

rad·u·la

 (răj′o͝o-lə)
n. pl. rad·u·lae (-lē′)
A flexible tonguelike organ found in most mollusks, having rows of horny teeth on the surface and used in feeding for scraping or cutting.

[Latin rādula, scraper, from rādere, to scrape; see rēd- in Indo-European roots.]

rad′u·lar adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

radula

(ˈrædjʊlə)
n, pl -lae (-ˌliː)
(Zoology) a horny tooth-bearing strip on the tongue of molluscs that is used for rasping food
[C19: from Late Latin: a scraping iron, from Latin rādere to scrape]
ˈradular adj
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

rad•u•la

(ˈrædʒ ʊ lə)

n., pl. -lae (-ˌli)
a tonguelike band in the mouth of most gastropods, set with rows of teeth.
[1745–55; < New Latin rādula; Latin: scraper =rād(ere) to scrape, rub + -ula -ule]
rad′u•lar, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
Most species of herbivorous sacoglossan sea slugs feed on siphonaceous green algae by puncturing the algal filament with a radular tooth and then suctorially removing the cytoplasmic contents (Jensen, 1980, 1994).
Zheng (2001) showed that there were significant differences in radular structure among nine species of cuttlefish and suggested that radular morphology is informative for their taxonomy.
Forewing with yellow veins and greyish radular areas, membrane almost colorless, transparent.
Age determination and estimation of larval period in field caught abalone (Haliotis discus hannai Ino 1953) larvae and newly metamorphosed post-larvae by counts of radular teeth rows.
situated anteriorly), some differences in radular teeth (an elongate first lateral tooth), and mainly by the different tegmental sculpture, with the very regular arrangement of non-elevated dorsal papillae (cf.
Quantification of radular marks as a method for estimating grazing of intertidal gastropods on rocky shores.
In the just-published paper, "Phase transformations and structural developments in the radular teeth of Cryptochiton stelleri," Kisailus set out to determine how the hard and magnetic outer region of the tooth forms.
Radular anatomy and systematics of the West American Conidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda).
Thompson (1995, 2008) elevated the subgenera to generic status on the basis of the combinations of shell, radular and soft anatomical differences.