There are freshwater and marine species. Class Phaeophyceae are brown algae that range in color from olive to brown. Fucoxanthin is the predominant pigment.
Growth is intercalary or apical, and plants are usually perennial.
Order and Family Order Scytosiphonales, family Scytosiphonaceae can be erect and bladelike or globular. They frequently have hairs. Genus Thalli are globular with broad basal attachments, that are at first solid and then become hollow. Walls are several to many cells thick. C. peregrina is found in the lower intertidal on rocks and other algae from Alaska to La Jolla, California.