The species is found in the Western Central Atlantic region, from the US Atlantic coast, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, to Brazil. This profile refers to the Honduras Western Central Atlantic management unit. The stock structure is not clearly understood. According to (Canty and Box, 2011, in (CEM 2017)), genetic studies show a possible meta-population extending from Belize and along the north Honduran shore. The highest larval contributor for this stock is Honduras itself, but there is connectivity with further areas such as Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and even Mexico (Chollett 2017). Small-scale and industrial fisheries are geographically separated (CEM 2017).

(Canty et al. 2018) found morphometric differences among three fishing grounds separated by small distances (5-60 km) at the Cayos Cochinos, and theorized that these were based on some environmental condition, such as bathymetry. This could also be in line with previous information, where ontogenic migrations were described, with younger individuals migrating to deeper waters when they reach adulthood (Cocheret de la Morinière et al. 2002)(Andradi-Brown et al. 2016).