[1] They occur mainly in brackish or salinic waters, such as the hypersaline Makgadikgadi Pans,[2] the Peel-Harvey Estuary in Western Australia or the Baltic Sea.

Nodularia cells occasionally form heavy algal blooms.

Some strains produce a cyanotoxin called nodularin R, which is harmful to humans.

The type species for the genus is Nodularia spumigena Mertens ex Bornet & Flahault, 1886.

They reproduce by the formation of hormogonia, filament breakage, and by akinetes .