An amoeba (pronounced uh-MEE-buh) is any of several tiny, one-celled protozoa in the phylum (or primary division of the animal kingdom) Sarcodina. Amoebas live in freshwater and salt water, in soil, and as parasites in moist body parts of animals.his occurs after the parent amoeba's genetic (hereditary) material, contained in the nucleus, is replicated and the nucleus divides (a process known as mitosis). Thus, the hereditary material is identical in the two daughter cells.