The bonnethead is confined to the warm waters of the western hemisphere. It ranges from New England, where it is rare, to the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil and from southern California to Ecuador. It is common in the inshore waters of the Carolinas and Georgia in summer, and off Florida and in the Gulf of Mexico in spring, summer, and fall (Castro, 1987).

Biogeographic Regions: atlantic ocean (Native ); pacific ocean (Native )