It is native to the northeastern Atlantic Ocean where it lives on the seabed,[2] typically on the stems and fronds of kelp.

Distomus variolosus is a colonial sea squirt that forms leathery patches, often encircling the stems of kelp.

Sexual reproduction takes place with sperm being liberated into the sea by a male phase zooid.

When this is drawn into a female phase zooid, fertilisation takes place and the larva is brooded in the sea squirt's body cavity.

When it is mature enough, it is expelled into the water column, and after a short planktonic life, settles on the substrate to form a new colony.