Relating to or characteristic of a cytostome, the feeding mouth-like opening in certain single-celled organisms.
From cytostome + -al (adjective suffix). This technical term allows protozoologists to describe features related to the feeding apparatus of protozoans.
The discovery of cytostomal structures was thrilling to early biologists because it showed that even invisible organisms had specialized feeding equipment—they weren't just undifferentiated blobs!
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