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The following points highlight the eight characters of amoeboid protozoans.
(i) Amoeboid Protozoans develop pseudopodia which are temporary protoplasmic outgrowths. They are of four types— lobo podia (broad and blunt), filo podia (slender, unsupported, independent), axopodia (slender with axial support) and reticuiopodia (slender, reticulate).
(ii) Pseudopodia are used for locomotion and engulfing food articles.
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(iii) Sarcodines are mostly free living, found in fresh water, sea water and on damp soil. Only a few are parasitic.
(iv) Amoeboid Protozoan’s body may be covered with plasma lemma or a shell.
(v) Nutrition is commonly holozoic.
(vi) Sarcodines are generally uninucleate. Bi-nucleate (e.g., Arcella) and multinucleate (e.g., Pelomyxa) types also occur but the nuclei are monomorphic.
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(vii) In Amoeboid Protozoans asexual reproduction takes place by binary fission, multiple fission, budding and spores.
(viii) In Amoeboid Protozoans sexual reproduction occurs through syngamy.
