It is commonly found in shallow waters around Florida and Belize in sandy areas, sea grass beds, and coral reefs.

The photosynthetic plants contribute to primary production, which is the synthesis of organic compounds, mainly carbohydrates in algae, from carbon dioxide.

[6] In one in vitro study, an extract of Udotea flabellum was found to be most effective out of a number of tropical green seaweeds tested, in increasing plasma coagulation time.

[1] An extract of U. flabellum in ethanol has shown modest antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans in one in vitro experiment.

The researchers isolated the hydrates of a novel compound, which they named udoteatrial, from the algae extract, which they believed to be responsible the antimicrobial activity.