How do amoebas capture food using pseudopodia?

Amoebas capture food by utilizing pseudopodia—temporary, fingerlike extensions of their cytoplasm—to interact with their environment. Because amoebas lack a mouth, they can ingest food at any point on their cell surface.123

The process of capturing food typically involves the following steps:

• Engulfment: The amoeba extends its pseudopodia to flow around a food particle, eventually surrounding it completely.124
• Vacuole Formation: Once the particle is enclosed, the pseudopodia fuse to form a membrane-bound chamber known as a food vacuole.24
• Digestion: This process, known as phagocytosis, allows the amoeba to secrete digestive enzymes into the vacuole to break down the trapped material.24

In some cases, amoebas may also trap prey in a fine, sticky mesh formed by their pseudopodia or, in the case of certain species, pierce algal filaments to extract their contents. Once digested, the resulting nutrients are absorbed into the cell, and any remaining waste is excreted through the cell surface.1324