The species is found in the Western Central Atlantic region, from the US Atlantic coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, to Brazil. The stock structure is not clearly understood. Some studies mentioned that differences were not detected between the Florida Keys and western Caribbean (including Belize, Yucatan Peninsula, and Campeche Bank) (SEDAR 2012) while other genetic analyses revealed the occurrence of up to four groupings (stocks) of yellowtail snapper: one in the Florida Keys, one along the west coast of Puerto Rico, one that includes the east coast of Puerto Rico and St. Thomas and one offshore of St. Croix (Saillant et al. 2012). However, whether differences exist between the Gulf of Mexico and the West Caribbean is unknown.

Yellowtail snapper in the Mexican Gulf of Mexico region was assumed in this profile, to be a single assessment unit that coincides with the management unit of the snapper group of species in this region (DOF 2018) (IMIPAS 2023).