The camouflage grouper has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. Its range extends from the coast of East Africa from the Red Sea south to Mozambique, eastwards across the Indian Ocean where it is found around the Comoros, British Indian Ocean Territory, Mauritius and the Seychelles and east into the Pacific Ocean as far as French Polynesia. In the Pacific its range extends north to southern Japan and south as far as Australia. In Australia it is found from Shark Bay and Scott Reef in Western Australia around the northern coast to One Tree Island in Queensland. It is also found around reefs and islands in the Coral Sea and the Tasman Sea.
