This species is found in the eastern Mediterranean (a Lessepian migrant from the Red Sea) (Golani et al. 2006), from Turkey, Greece and Cyprus (Kaya et al. 2000, Taskavak et al. 2000, Corsini and Economidis 1999, Golani and Sonin 1992, Randall 1981). Its native range is in the western Indian Ocean from the Red Sea and the eastern coast of Africa southwards to Durban, South Africa, and around Madagascar and adjacent Indian Ocean Islands.