High-resolution, side-looking sonar surveys of the East Pacific rise and seamounts in the eastern Pacific have revealed the common presence of lava tubes and channels in seafloor volcanic terrains. Tube and channel systems commonly issue from small volcanic cones or domes, are continuous for distances of 1–3 km, and are considered to be important in distributing lavas around seafloor extrusive sites and creating characteristic morphology. Eruption rate and volume are probably the most important controlling factors in determining whether tubes or channels will form. Volatile content and state, slope angle, and preeruption surface morphology are secondary factors that influence the ease with which a tube or channel may form and its direction and shape. Seafloor tubes and channels may also have a profound influence on the structure and evolution of the upper oceanic crust. Tubes and channels are likely to form intracrustal horizontal pathways for circulating hydrothermal fluids. Flow differentiation processes acting within tubes and channels may affect the chemical composition of lavas and could be partially responsible for the chemical diversity of rocks along accretionary boundaries. Seafloor tubes and channels that are either partially water-filled or contain volcaniclastics which are then buried within the volcanic pile can lower the compressional velocity and seismic response of the upper oceanic crustal layer along spreading axes.