[2] Members of this family are found in freshwater, terrestrial, and marine habitats.

[3] Algae in the family Prasiolaceae consist of thalli with blades a single cell thick (i.e. monostromatic).

[5] However, molecular phylogenetics have shown that additional algae with simple morphologies, such as Stichococcus, also belong to the same clade as this family.

[6] Molecular phylogenetic studies suggest the following relationships:[7] Prasiola + Prasiococcus Rosenvingiella Rosenvingiellopsis Prasionema Prasionella Prasiolopsis Another, older study places Prasionella as sister to Rosenvingiella.

[5] The above cladogram excludes the genus Schizogonium, which is taxonomically problematic and likely a synonym of Rosenvingiella.