The rockweed gunnel was first formally described in 1880 by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert with its type locality given as Point Pinos, near Monterey, California.

[3] The specific name fucorum means "belonging to Fucus, the brown algae which forms a frequent habitat for this species.

[1] The rockweed gunnel is found along the eastern Pacific Ocean from Banks Island, British Columbia in the north, to Punta Escarpada, central Baja California, Mexico in the south.

The exact status of the species pertaining to each area is unknown as there has been no recent primary literature on this topic.

It commonly occurs in tide pools and inshore areas among masses of brown seaweed in the genus fucus, also known as 'rockweed'.

There are no current literature on the specific months they are laid, but taking into consideration other similar gunnel species, it is inferred to be around November to January.

There are no official records for habitat impacts, human activities, or fisheries on the Rockweed Gunnel either.