Lobophora variegata is a species of small thalloid brown alga which grows intertidally or in shallow water in tropical and warm temperate seas.

It is usually anchored to the seabed or the prop roots of the red mangrove Rhizophora mangle by a holdfast, but it sometimes forms loose masses which roll about with the movement of the water.

[3][6] The encrusting form resembles Ralfsia and consists of irregular low-growing lobes attached to the substrate by a matted, rhizoidal holdfast.

[3] Lobophora variegata is widely distributed in tropical and warm temperate marine waters, from the intertidal zone down to at least 90 metres (300 ft).

[3] It is common in the western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, its range extending from Bermuda and North Carolina to Brazil.

[4][6] In feeding trials in Belize it has been shown that the three different forms of this seaweed have different degrees of palatability to herbivorous fish and crabs (Mithraculus sculptus).