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1Adapted for sucking (descriptive, for example, of the mouthparts of some insects)
‘a suctorial proboscis’
‘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.’
‘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.’
1.1(of an animal) having a sucker for feeding or adhering to something.
‘suctorial insects’
‘One explanation is that suctorial insect growth was limited by the phenology of the host plant and not just by climate.’
‘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.’
Origin
Mid 19th century: from modern Latin suctorius (from Latin sugere ‘suck’) + -al.