It is a subtidal species endemic to Tasmania and southern Victoria, Australia, and is the least studied of the only three Laminarian kelps in the region.

[3] Lessonia corrugata is a dominant species in some Tasmanian kelp forests,[4] but remains poorly studied.

It is currently being developed for use in aquaculture, to produce food, feed, kelp biomass, and for environmental remediation purposes in IMTA finfish farms.

[3] The blades lack pneumatocysts, meaning that the kelp is negatively buoyant and displays a prostrate growth form, lying flat across the substrate.

[8][9][10] It generally occurs in shallower and more exposed locations than other dominant canopy-forming seaweed species in the region, namely Ecklonia radiata and Phyllospora comosa.