Description: Thallus small and tuft-like. Filaments monosiphonous and no more than 4 cms high, rising from a monostromatic base or a basal hemispherical cushion.

Habitat: Common. Epiphytic on Fucus spp. and occasionally on other algae. Mid to low littoral.

Distribution: Widely distributed around the British Isles. Europe: Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Baltic Sea, Norway, Faroes, Sweden, Spitzbergen and Iceland. Atlantic coast of North America: Canada, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Long Island, New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia. Further afield: Arctic Seas: Spitzbergen, Navaya Zemlya, Murman Sea, Kara Sea, Siberian Sea and Baffin Bay on the west coast of Greenland. Pacific coast of North America: Alaska, Canada, Washington, Oregon and California.

Similar Species: Other species of Elachista and other small tufted algae require microscopic examination for identification.

Distribution Map from NBN: Elachista fucicola at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Elachista fucicola at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.

WoRMS: Elachista fucicola at World Register of Marine Species. Accepted name: Elachista fucicola (Velley) Areschoug, 1842. AphiaID: 144937.

Classification: Biota; Chromista; Harosa; Heterokonta; Ochrophyta; Phaeophyceae; Fucophycidae; Ectocarpales; Chordariaceae; Elachista