The North Atlantic is home to a rich variety of kelp species, from familiar edible kelps like sugar kelp and winged kelp to forest-forming species like oarweed and tangle kelp. These large brown seaweeds grow along cold, rocky coastlines from New England and Atlantic Canada to Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Norway, France, and the Arctic edge of the ocean.
Kelp are not plants in the traditional land-plant sense. They are large brown algae in the order Laminariales, and they form some of the most productive underwater habitats in cold and temperate seas. Their bodies are usually made of a holdfast, which anchors them to rock; a stipe, which acts like a stem; and a blade, which captures sunlight for photosynthesis.
When people say “North Atlantic kelp,” they may be talking about several different species. Some are eaten as sea vegetables. Some are harvested for alginate. Some are farmed. Some are mostly important as wild habitat. And some are shifting their ranges as ocean conditions change.
Below is a guide to the major kelp species of the North Atlantic, what they look like, where they grow, and why they matter.
Quick Guide to North Atlantic Kelp Species
| Species | Common names | Where it grows | Main significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saccharina latissima | Sugar kelp, sea belt, sweet kelp | North Atlantic, North Pacific, Arctic/cold-temperate coasts | Food, farming, sustainable aquaculture |
| Laminaria digitata | Oarweed, horsetail kelp, fingered kelp | NE Atlantic and NW Atlantic | Wild kelp beds, alginate, sea vegetable |
| Laminaria hyperborea | Tangle kelp, cuvie, North European kelp | Mostly NE Atlantic | Major kelp forest former, alginate |
| Alaria esculenta | Winged kelp, Atlantic wakame, dabberlocks | North Atlantic exposed rocky coasts | Edible seaweed, aquaculture interest |
| Saccorhiza polyschides | Furbellows, sea hedgehog kelp | Eastern North Atlantic | Annual opportunistic kelp |
| Agarum clathratum | Sea colander, sieve kelp | NW Atlantic, Arctic/subarctic Atlantic | Distinctive perforated blade, habitat species |
| Hedophyllum nigripes | Split kelp | Cold NW Atlantic, Arctic/subarctic regions | Northern kelp, less commercially developed |
| Laminaria solidungula | Arctic kelp, suction-cup kelp | Arctic North Atlantic | Ice-associated Arctic kelp |
| Laminaria ochroleuca | Golden kelp | Warmer eastern Atlantic edge | Climate-sensitive range-expanding kelp |
| Undaria pinnatifida | Wakame | Introduced in parts of Europe | Non-native kelp now found in some Atlantic harbors |
This list is not every brown seaweed in the North Atlantic. Rockweeds like Ascophyllum nodosum and Fucus vesiculosus are also common brown seaweeds, but they are not true kelps. The kelps below are part of the Laminariales group, or very closely discussed with kelp-forming brown seaweed communities.
1. Sugar Kelp — Saccharina latissima
Sugar kelp is probably the best-known farmed kelp in the North Atlantic food world. It has a long, undivided blade with wavy edges and a crinkled or dimpled central band. NOAA describes sugar kelp as yellowish brown, with a blade that can grow up to about 5 meters, or 16 feet, long. It is also called sea belt or Devil’s apron.
Sugar kelp is widely distributed across cold northern waters. Seaweed.ie describes Saccharina latissima as circumboreal, occurring from northern Russia south to Galicia, Spain, and common on most shores of Britain and Ireland. It is often found in intertidal pools, shallow subtidal zones, sheltered sites, and areas with fast-moving water.
This is also one of the most important kelps for modern ocean farming. In Maine, sugar kelp is the main cultivated kelp species so far, grown on submerged longlines as a winter crop from fall to spring. Maine Sea Grant describes three commercially important kelps in Maine: sugar kelp, winged kelp, and horsetail kelp.
From a food perspective, sugar kelp is mild, mineral-rich, and often used in soups, salads, broths, noodles, and dried seaweed products. NOAA notes that it is growing in popularity in the United States as a nutritious food high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Sugar kelp is also part of the bigger story behind foods like Seaghetti. Seaghetti is a kelp-based pasta, and while not every kelp product uses the same species, the appeal comes from this same ocean-grown category: brown seaweeds that are nutrient-rich, low-impact, and deeply connected to cold coastal waters.
2. Oarweed / Horsetail Kelp — Laminaria digitata
Laminaria digitata is one of the classic North Atlantic kelps. It is often called oarweed, fingered kelp, or horsetail kelp. Its blade is split into long finger-like segments, which makes it easier to distinguish from the single, wavy blade of sugar kelp.
Seaweed.ie describes Laminaria digitata as very common in the lower intertidal and shallow subtidal zones on rocky shores in Britain and Ireland, where it can form extensive meadows at low water. Its distribution stretches from Svalbard, Iceland, and northern Russia south to Brittany, and in the western Atlantic from northeast Greenland south to Cape Cod, with less common records toward Long Island.
This species has both ecological and industrial importance. In the wild, it forms kelp beds that create habitat for invertebrates, fish, and other seaweeds. Industrially, it has been harvested in Brittany for alginate production, and in Ireland and France in smaller quantities for sea-vegetable use.
In New England, horsetail kelp is one of the species with commercial interest. Maine Sea Grant lists Laminaria digitata alongside sugar kelp and winged kelp as one of Maine’s three commercially important kelp species.
Food-wise, Laminaria digitata can be more robust and iodine-rich than some other edible seaweeds, so it is often used more like kombu: in broths, stocks, seasoning, and small culinary amounts rather than as a huge salad vegetable.
3. Tangle Kelp / Cuvie — Laminaria hyperborea
Laminaria hyperborea is one of the most important forest-forming kelps in the northeast Atlantic. It is often called tangle kelp, cuvie, or North European kelp. Compared with Laminaria digitata, it tends to have a longer, thicker, more rigid stipe, and its stipe can be covered by smaller red seaweeds and animals.
Seaweed.ie describes Laminaria hyperborea as common at low water in wave-exposed areas and in the subtidal in clear water, growing on rock to depths of about 32 meters. It can form extensive closed communities at depths of 0–24 meters and occurs on all coasts of Britain and Ireland.
This species is especially important because it creates three-dimensional underwater habitat. Its stiff stipes and canopy structure support smaller algae, invertebrates, and fish. In many northeast Atlantic kelp forests, Laminaria hyperborea is the architectural species that gives the forest its structure.
It is also commercially important. Seaweed.ie notes that it is dredged in Norway for specialist alginate production, and that cast-up stipes were historically collected in Ireland and Scotland for alginate.
As a food, tangle kelp is less commonly marketed to everyday consumers than sugar kelp or winged kelp. Its biggest role is ecological and industrial: kelp forest habitat, alginate, and biomass.
4. Winged Kelp / Atlantic Wakame — Alaria esculenta
Alaria esculenta is one of the most distinctive edible kelps of the North Atlantic. It is often called winged kelp, dabberlocks, badderlocks, or Atlantic wakame. It has a central midrib with thin, wavy blade tissue extending out on either side, giving it a winged appearance.
Seaweed.ie describes Alaria esculenta as having olive or yellow-brown fronds that can reach up to 4 meters, although they are often smaller. Its reproductive structures grow on leafy appendages along the stipe, usually in two rows.
This species is strongly associated with exposed rocky coasts. Seaweed.ie’s fact sheet says it occurs throughout the North Atlantic, from Greenland to France, along both western and eastern Atlantic shores, and is commonly found from 0–8 meters depth, with deeper growth possible in very clear water. It prefers rocky substrates in weak to strong currents at exposed to extremely exposed locations.
Winged kelp is genuinely edible and has a long food history in northern coastal communities. It is often compared to wakame, though it is a different species from the Japanese wakame Undaria pinnatifida. In Maine and New England, it is also one of the kelps of aquaculture interest; Maine Sea Grant notes that experimental cultivation has been done with species such as Alaria.
In the kitchen, winged kelp is often used in soups, salads, dried flakes, and vegetable-style seaweed dishes. It tends to be more tender than some heavier kelps and can have a clean, oceanic, lightly savory flavor.
5. Furbellows / Sea Hedgehog Kelp — Saccorhiza polyschides
Saccorhiza polyschides is a dramatic kelp from the eastern North Atlantic. It is sometimes called furbellows or sea hedgehog kelp because mature plants have a large, hollow, warted holdfast that looks almost like a spiny sea creature.
Seaweed.ie describes Saccorhiza polyschides as a yellowish to dark brown kelp that can grow to about 3 meters long. It grows in the lower intertidal and shallow subtidal and is described as an annual opportunist that fills “holes” in shallow-water Laminaria digitata forests but cannot compete with the dominant species.
Its distribution is mostly eastern Atlantic: Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, and south to the Canary Islands, Morocco, Ghana, and Mauritania.
This species is a nice reminder that kelp forests are dynamic. Not every kelp is a long-lived canopy builder. Some are opportunists, colonizing open space quickly and disappearing as longer-lived species reestablish.
Saccorhiza polyschides is not usually the first kelp people think of for food or farming. Its main interest is ecological, biogeographic, and morphological.
6. Sea Colander / Sieve Kelp — Agarum clathratum
Agarum clathratum may be one of the easiest kelps to recognize once you know what to look for. It has a broad blade with holes in it, which gives rise to names like sea colander, sieve kelp, or shotgun kelp.
This species is more characteristic of the northwest Atlantic and Arctic/subarctic regions than the British-Irish kelp flora. The Maine Natural History Observatory includes Agarum clathratum, or sea colander, in its guide to common kelps and brown seaweed blades in Maine.
Arctic kelp studies also list Agarum clathratum among kelp species found in northern systems alongside Alaria esculenta, Hedophyllum nigripes, Laminaria digitata, Laminaria solidungula, and Saccharina latissima.
Unlike sugar kelp or winged kelp, sea colander is not a major mainstream food kelp. Its appeal is more ecological and visual: it is a cold-water kelp with a striking perforated blade, part of the underwater forest structure in northern Atlantic and Arctic waters.
7. Split Kelp — Hedophyllum nigripes
Hedophyllum nigripes, also known historically under names like Laminaria nigripes or Saccharina nigripes, is a colder-water kelp associated with northern Atlantic and Arctic/subarctic habitats. It is less familiar to consumers than sugar kelp, oarweed, or winged kelp.
The Maine Natural History Observatory includes Hedophyllum nigripes, or split kelp, among the kelps and brown seaweed blades found in Maine. Arctic kelp studies also list Hedophyllum nigripes among kelp species in high-latitude kelp forest systems.
This is not currently a major food or aquaculture species in the way sugar kelp is. Its importance is more ecological and scientific, especially for understanding northern kelp forests, cold adaptation, and species distributions near the Arctic edge.
For readers, the key idea is that the North Atlantic kelp world is not just the species you see on menus. There are also cold-water kelps that help build habitat and tell scientists a lot about changing ocean conditions.
8. Arctic Kelp / Suction-Cup Kelp — Laminaria solidungula
Laminaria solidungula is an Arctic kelp species found in cold, high-latitude systems. It is one of the species included in Arctic kelp forest surveys, along with Agarum clathratum, Alaria esculenta, Hedophyllum nigripes, Laminaria digitata, and Saccharina latissima.
This kelp is especially interesting because Arctic kelp forests live under very different conditions from temperate kelp forests. They may experience seasonal darkness, sea ice, colder water, and highly seasonal light availability. As the Arctic warms and sea ice changes, these northern kelp species may become increasingly important indicators of ecosystem change.
Laminaria solidungula is not a common food species and is not central to current North Atlantic kelp farming. Its importance is ecological: it is part of the coldest edge of the kelp story.
9. Golden Kelp — Laminaria ochroleuca
Laminaria ochroleuca, or golden kelp, is a warmer-water kelp from the eastern Atlantic edge. It is especially interesting because it appears to be expanding northward in some areas.
Seaweed.ie describes Laminaria ochroleuca as occurring in western Ireland, where it is rare and only recently reported, and in southwest Britain since the 1940s, extending south to Morocco, the Canary Islands, and Spanish Sahara. The same source notes that since the 1940s, the species seems to be extending its range northwards, perhaps aided by leisure craft.
This makes golden kelp a climate-relevant species. It is not the classic cold North Atlantic kelp like sugar kelp or oarweed, but it is part of the changing kelp landscape. As waters warm, southern species may move into areas where colder-water kelps have historically dominated.
Golden kelp is not a major North Atlantic food crop today, but it is an important species to watch for biogeography, ecology, and climate change.
10. Introduced Wakame — Undaria pinnatifida
Undaria pinnatifida, better known as wakame, is not native to the North Atlantic. It is native to the western Pacific, including Japan, China, Korea, and Pacific Russia. However, it now grows in parts of the northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean as an introduced species.
Seaweed.ie describes Undaria pinnatifida as an introduced kelp from the western Pacific that is now found in parts of Ireland, southern England, northwest France, northwest Spain, and the Mediterranean. It often grows in sheltered places such as marinas, buoys, boat hulls, and harbors.
This species is important because it shows how kelp distributions are shaped not only by temperature and coastline, but also by human movement. Boats, aquaculture gear, harbors, and global shipping can move seaweeds into new regions.
Wakame is widely eaten in East Asia, but in the North Atlantic context it should be understood as a non-native kelp rather than a native species.
Which North Atlantic Kelps Are Farmed?
Not all kelps are equally farmable, and not all farmed kelps are equally popular as food. In the North Atlantic, the species with the clearest farming and food interest are:
- Saccharina latissima — sugar kelp
- Alaria esculenta — winged kelp / Atlantic wakame
- Laminaria digitata — oarweed / horsetail kelp
Maine Sea Grant identifies these three as commercially important kelp species in Maine, with sugar kelp already cultivated and experimental cultivation done with species such as Alaria. A seasonal chemical analysis of Laminaria digitata, Laminaria hyperborea, Saccharina latissima, and Alaria esculenta also selected those four species because of their potential for cultivation and characterized their seasonal composition over 14 months.
Sugar kelp is the current star of North Atlantic kelp farming because it grows well on lines, has a recognizable food market, and can be harvested as a winter crop. Winged kelp is attractive because it is edible and has “Atlantic wakame” appeal. Oarweed and tangle kelp are important wild species, but their role in farming is more limited or developing depending on region.
Which North Atlantic Kelps Are Best for Food?
For food, the most approachable North Atlantic kelps are usually:
Sugar kelp, which is mild, broad, and useful in noodles, salads, soups, and dried kelp products.
Winged kelp / Alaria, which is often compared to wakame and works well in soups, salads, and sea vegetable dishes.
Oarweed / Laminaria digitata, which is often treated more like kombu and used in smaller amounts for broth, seasoning, or mineral-rich cooking.
Some kelps are more industrial or ecological than culinary. Laminaria hyperborea is extremely important for kelp forests and alginate, but it is not as commonly marketed as an everyday food. Saccorhiza polyschides, Agarum clathratum, Hedophyllum nigripes, and Laminaria solidungula are more niche from a food perspective.
That said, culinary seaweed is still evolving quickly. As North Atlantic seaweed farming grows, more species may become better known to chefs, food companies, and home cooks.
Why These Species Matter for Sustainability
North Atlantic kelps matter because they sit at the intersection of ecology, food, climate, and coastal economies.
In the wild, kelps create habitat. Their blades and stipes form underwater structure for fish, invertebrates, red seaweeds, and other marine life. In farming systems, kelp can be grown without land, freshwater, or fertilizer, making it an exciting crop for sustainable ocean agriculture.
This is the sustainability story that makes kelp-based foods so compelling. Seaghetti is one example of kelp becoming part of an everyday meal format: pasta. It takes an ocean-grown ingredient and makes it feel familiar, easy, and fun to eat. The broader kelp world is much bigger than one product, but that is exactly the point — kelp is a whole category of sustainable food, not just a garnish.
North Atlantic Kelp Is Not One Thing
The biggest lesson from North Atlantic kelp species is that “kelp” is not one ingredient. It is a whole group of brown seaweeds with different shapes, habitats, flavors, and uses.
Sugar kelp looks like a wavy lasagna noodle. Oarweed has finger-like blades. Tangle kelp builds subtidal forests. Winged kelp has a central rib and tender wings. Sea colander is full of holes. Arctic kelps survive near the frozen edge of the ocean. Golden kelp hints at warming seas and changing distributions.
Together, these species form one of the most fascinating living systems in the North Atlantic: green-brown underwater forests that feed, shelter, and inspire.
Final Thoughts
The North Atlantic is full of kelp diversity. Some species, like sugar kelp and winged kelp, are becoming more familiar through food and aquaculture. Others, like tangle kelp and oarweed, are ecological powerhouses of wild kelp forests. Still others, like sea colander, split kelp, Arctic kelp, and golden kelp, reveal how broad and dynamic the kelp world really is.
For anyone interested in sustainable food, ocean health, or climate-resilient agriculture, these species are worth knowing by name. Kelp is not just seaweed. It is habitat, nutrition, coastal culture, marine science, and one of the most promising ocean-grown foods of the future.
FAQ
What kelp species grow in the North Atlantic?
Major North Atlantic kelps include Saccharina latissima, Laminaria digitata, Laminaria hyperborea, Alaria esculenta, Saccorhiza polyschides, Agarum clathratum, Hedophyllum nigripes, and Laminaria solidungula. Some introduced kelps, such as Undaria pinnatifida, also grow in parts of the northeast Atlantic.
What is the most commonly farmed kelp in the North Atlantic?
Sugar kelp, Saccharina latissima, is one of the most commonly farmed kelps in the North Atlantic, especially in Maine and other cold-water aquaculture regions. Maine Sea Grant describes sugar kelp as the main cultivated kelp species so far in Maine.
Is sugar kelp native to the North Atlantic?
Yes. Sugar kelp is widely distributed across cold northern waters, including the North Atlantic. Seaweed.ie describes it as circumboreal and common on most shores of Britain and Ireland.
Are all brown seaweeds kelp?
No. Kelp are large brown algae in the order Laminariales. Other brown seaweeds, such as rockweeds in the genus Fucus and Ascophyllum, are common in the North Atlantic but are not true kelps.
What North Atlantic kelp is best for eating?
Sugar kelp, winged kelp, and oarweed are among the best-known edible North Atlantic kelps. Sugar kelp is especially important in modern kelp farming, while winged kelp is often marketed as Atlantic wakame.
What kinds of kelp is Seaghetti made from?
Seaghetti is make of the same kelp species found in the North Atlantic. We use a blend of a few species to get the bouncy bite and texture people love. We are always looking to innovate with new, delicious species that farmers are growing around our home!