protozoan genus of the rhizopodan order Amoebida that inhabits the intestines of invertebrates. It had been considered the same genus as Entamoeba (q.v.; the genus of the dysentery organism Entamoeba histolytica), but the two were recognized as separate genera in 1954 by the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature. In Endamoeba the nucleus, the basis for classification, has a thick membrane and is divided into a granular outer ring and a coarsely netted centre; the outer ring and the centre are separated by a number of nuclear bodies called endosomes. Endamoeba blattae, a representative species, lives in the cockroach intestine.