It occurs in the Eastern Atlantic from the British Isles (off the coast of Western Scotland and South-West England and Ireland[3]) south to Madeira and the Canary Islands and into the western Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

[2][4] Some workers have found that L. candolii is not closely related to the other two species in the genus Lepadogaster and have proposed the placing of this species in the revived monotypic genus Mirbelia Canestrini, 1864, at least until more definitive taxonomic studies can be undertaken.

[6] L. candolii is considered a euryecious species, meaning that it has a broad variety of living conditions and habitats that it prefers.

L. candolii most often inhabit small cavities in the underwater rock face, boulder fields, and seagrass meadows.

Like the Lepadogaster other species, L. candolii has a flattened body and bilateral symmetry.