[3] Melicertus kerathurus is found in the warmer water of the eastern Atlantic from the south coast of England to Angola and throughout the entire Mediterranean Sea.

[4][5] Melicertus kerathurus is exploited in an inshore fishery along all Mediterranean coasts, the prawn's large size and excellent taste make it a desirable quarry species.

In West Africa the species is of minor importance and there are small fisheries in Benin and Nigeria.The total catch landed in 2015 was 7,410 tonnes.

[3] Greece and Tunisia have been the main countries landing M. kerathurus commercially in recent years,[6] The Lessepsian migration of Erythrian penaeid prawns through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean may lead to increased competition for Melicertus kerathurus and the invasive Metapenaeus monoceros has already been implicated as a causal factor in the local extinction of M. kerathensis in the south-eastern Mediterranean.

[7] M. monoceros is now the most important target species for commercial, inshore, fisheries in the Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia, and off Egyptian Mediterranean coasts.