Key to the common species of Pterocladiella
| 1 | Plants short, creeping, matted, nearly black with rhizoids opposite single erect branch | P. caloglossoides (Howe) Dawson |
| 1 | Plants erect, unilaterally or pinnately branched | 2 |
| 2 | Plants in nearly continuous clumps, with branching mostly at the tops of "leggy" axes, often naked for more than half of length of frond; branching distichous, often pinnate; cystocarps opening from one side of locule | P. capillacea (Gmelin) Santelices & Hommersand |
| 2 | Plants mostly as individuals along edges of reef, branching mostly irregularly pinnate, axes frequently bearing branches on upper 3/4 of length of frond | 3 |
| 3 | Nearly all branchlets becoming fertile at same time | P. bulbosa Loomis |
| 3 | Only some branchlets becoming fertile | P. caerulescens (Kützing) Santelices & Hommersand |
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