[3] Panulirus guttatus is native to the tropical western Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea but it also extends into the Gulf of Mexico.

[4] Its range extends from Bermuda, the Bahamas, southern Florida and the West Indies, to Curaçao, Bonaire, Los Roques and Suriname.

It is found on rocky reefs in shallow water, at depths down to about 23 metres (75 ft), often hiding in crevices or under large coral heads.

During the daylight hours they are in the coral reefs and while at nighttime the animals move away from the protective sites to feed on food along the ocean floor.

It is not currently the subject of commercial fishing on any great scale but may become so as the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) populations decline.