Channelled wrack can be found on most rocky shores around Ireland. It is mainly found at the upper shore, at the high tide mark. Channelled wrack is very hardy and can survive for over a week without being submerged in water. Channelled wrack is aptly named due to the obvious ‘channels’ that can be seen at the end of its fronds. The lighter-coloured, v-shaped swellings at the ends of the fronds could be mistaken for air bladders, similar to those of bladder wrack or egg wrack, however channelled wrack does not have air bladders and these swellings are actually its reproductive structures.  

Channelled wrack is a hermaphrodite, so it has both male and female structures. Their sex cells are released from the ends of the fronds and are fertilised externally in the water. They settle as tiny sporelings, which develop through the winter.