Indo-West Pacific: Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman to Fiji, north to southern Japan and Jeju Island, Korea (Ref. 114833), south to New South Wales, Australia (Ref. 114833) and New Caledonia (Ref. 86942). This species has been referred to as Lutjanus malabaricus (non Schneider) or Lutjanus altifrontalis by many recent authors. Occurrence in the Red Sea is a misidentification (Ref. 84159).