Neopyropia yezoensis belongs to a group of red algae which grow in a sheet-like form, often called 'laver' or 'nori'. Strain so this algae are cultivated in Asia and elsewhere as food. Gametophytic blades are oval to oblong, sheets, attached by a dusk-like holdfast and a short stem. The fronds are 40 to 220 mm long, and 10 to 21 mm wide. The color ranges from brown to purple to gray-green, The blades are monecious, having streak-like patches of male and female gametangia (reproductive tissue) interspersed. Neopyropia, yezoensis is described from Japan, and is native to Pacific Russia, China, and Korea. On the East Coast of the US, iNeopyropia yezoensis forma yezoensis was first collected in Great Bay, New Hampshire.in 1966. This alga has been collected from Boothbay Harbor, Maine to Long Island Sound, and also form Galveston and Port Aransas, Texas. An edible form of the species, N. y. forma narawaensis was cultivated in Cobscook Bay, Maine from 1991 to 1998.. The temperature of this bay was too low for reproduction, and this cultivated genetic strain has not become established in the Northwest Atlantic. However, the typical yezoensis form is established in France, Britain, and Germany. Neopyropia yezoensis has been identified in debris left by the 2011 tsunami, but has not become established, to our knowledge..