Upeneus moluccensis has an Indo-West Pacific distribution, occurring from the Red Sea to New Caledonia and as far north as Japan,[5] and south to northern Australia. It is the second most common member of its genus in New Caledonian waters.[2] The first record of U. moluccensis in the Mediterranean was off Palestine in 1947, it had reached the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal as a Lessepsian migrant, and has become common enough in the eastern Mediterranean to be an important species in fisheries.[3]