[2] Populations in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean are found from the north eastern coast of the United States south to the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, islands around the Caribbean Sea, the eastern coast of Central and South America all the way to Uruguay.

[2] In the eastern Atlantic Ocean, they are found from Portugal, Azores, the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, and western Africa.

[2] Sometimes, they get cleaned of parasites by fish species such as gobies in the genus Gobiosoma, Bodianus rufus, Elacatinus figaro, and Thalassoma noronhanum.

[2] Predators of this fish include Plectropomus leopardus, Thalassoma bifasciatum, Cephalopholis cruentata, Epinephelus striatus, Mycteroperca venenosa, and Rachycentron canadum.

[5] The sergeant major is an oviparous species in which the males create nests on rocks, reef outcrops, shipwrecks, and pilings where the females lay their egg masses.