The stocky hawkfish is the largest of the hawkfishes and are plenitfully found amoung shallow coral reefs from the Red Sea, East Africa Eastward to the the Marquesan Islands and Mangareva, also north to Japan and East to the Hawaiian Islands. The species is also found in the atlantic ocean near the southern tip of Africa.
The stocky hawkfish feeds primarily on crabs, shrimp and small fish.