Definition of suctorial in US English:

adjective

• 1Adapted for sucking (descriptive, for example, of the mouthparts of some insects).

  Example sentences

  • ‘This fused fin is also called a suctorial disc and is used to help attach to a surface in flowing water.’
  • ‘Dropping into one of the deeper pools under a ledge, I found a loricariid catfish, with its suctorial mouth, under a dead log - a favourite hang-out.’
  • ‘Tadpoles do have several rows of denticles, as well as a large, ventrally placed, suctorial oral disk - a suction-cup shaped mouth with which it clings to rocks in fast water.’
  • ‘The tadpoles of Amolops species are torrent-adapted, and have suctorial disks on their bellies.’
  • ‘The larvae have suctorial discs and reduced tail fins, which presumably are adaptations for living in swift flowing streams.’

  1. 1.1 (of an animal) having a sucker for feeding or adhering to something.
     Example sentences

     • ‘Extremes in this case are represented by suctorial species, Poyntonia paludicola, and various semiterrestrial forms (e.g., Arthroleptides, Cycloramphus, Nannophrys, and Thoropa).’
     • ‘This group includes the suctorial lice, confined to mammals; they are strictly parasitic insects, being confined to their hosts constantly and deriving all their nourishment from them.’
     • ‘One explanation is that suctorial insect growth was limited by the phenology of the host plant and not just by climate.’