Range Description

This species occurs widely in the Indo-West Pacific from the Maldives, Japan, Taiwan, Viet Nam, the Philippines (the eastern and southern coasts), Indonesia (Sulawesi, Irian Jaya), and the Polynesian islands (Chan and Chu 1996, Juinio-Menez and Gotanco 2004). It is thought to also occur in the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, Wallis and Futuna, and probably off northern Australia (Chan and Chu 1996). Adults were recently recorded off the Galapagos Islands (Isabela) after the 1997/98 El Nino event. These were almost certainly vagrants rather than invasives or introductions (Charles Darwin Foundation and WWF 2002), although there have been sporadic reports each year since then (Hickman and Zimmerman 2000). This species range is likely to be extended upon further directed surveys.