Many of the brown algae are predominantly marine, living in upper rocky intertidal habitats. The fucales include brown algae that have apical growth, parenchymatous thalli, and a life history that involves meiosis during gamete production. Gametes are produced in terminal, swollen structures known as receptacles. Within receptacles are sunken, porous openings known as conceptacles. The fucaceae have thalli which lack a main central axis and have dichotomous branching above the holdfast.
Branches lie in a single plane.
In addition, the oogonium contains one functional egg. Descriptions of this species are included in the following sections. Ecology Hesperophycus californicus ranges from Santa Cruz, California to Is. San Benito, Baja California. This saxicolous species is usually found in wave-protected areas.