The species is found in the Western Central Atlantic region, from the US Atlantic coast, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, to Brazil. The stock structure is not clearly understood. Some studies mentioned that differences were not detected between Florida Keys and western Caribbe (including Belize, Yucatan Peninsula and Campeche Bank) (O’Hop et al., 2012) while others genetic analysis revealed 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 it’s not known if differences exist between Gulf of Mexico and West Caribbe. The US South Atlantic and Northern Gulf of Mexico regions are combined for the stock assessment but are managed separately. This profile refers to the Northern Gulf of Mexico and Western Central Atlantic assessment unit.