The spectral absorption and attenuation coefficients of 16 phytoplankton species were measured in the laboratory using acs instrument. Ancillary measurements included particle size distribution and chlorophyll a concentration (Chl a). The results indicated that both algal cell size and Chl a were the two major factors dominating the magnitudes of the spectral absorption and attenuation coefficients. The spectral behaviors of attenuation spectra were dominated by algal cell size, the relationship of them didn’t follow the monotonic function. Both the ratio of absorption in blue and red waveband and the spectral slope of absorption coefficient were influenced by the product of algal cell density and squares of cell size rather than algal cell size alone. The relationship between algal cell size and both absorption and attenuation spectra would be interpreted by Mie theory for homogenous sphere, which imply that the heterogeneity and non-spherical shape in algal cell morphology and internal structure have little effect on the inherent association among them.