General
Epinephelus melanostigma is an Indo-West Pacific species found from Natal, South Africa to the central Pacific. It is not known from the Red Sea nor Persian Gulf.

Specific
Australia: New South Wales - Lord Howe Is., Cook Islands, Hong Kong, Indonesia: Bali, Java , Lesser Sunda Is., Moluccas , Papua , Sumatra, Japan: Ogasawara-shoto , Ryukyu Is., Kiribati, Madagascar, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia Federated States of, Mozambique, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea: Bismarck Archipelago, North Solomons, Philippines, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal, Taiwan, Province of China ,Tokelau, United States Minor Outlying Islands.