The squaretail coral grouper is commonly found in the western Pacific, including the waters around Japan, southeastern China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia.

[3] Squaretail coral groupers live in shallow lagoonal and seaward coral-rich areas, especially in channels at the reef front.

[3][8] Squaretail coral groupers have small home ranges and many stay close to their aggregation site, with the larvae dispersing within a 14.4 km radius[5][9].

[10] The spawning times occur during new and full moons, which may suggest a linkage to associated high tidal variation and flow to enhance dispersal or retention.

[7] Grouper aggregations occur monthly around the year[11] and form with the purpose to spawn, as seen by a change in color, as well as fighting, quivering, and multiple gravid females.

The squaretail coral grouper is a highly sought out fish in the food industry, with its consumption most common in southern China.

Squaretail coral groupers have a slow maturation and long life span, meaning that they cannot easily replenish their population when overfished.

Squaretail coral groupers are more abundant and physically larger than the other fish in their aggregation sites, leading them to be more commonly hunted.

[8] There have been incidences of ciguatera from eating squaretail coral grouper, which is an illness caused by a toxin produced by a microalgae dinoflagellate called Gambierdiscus toxicus.

[15]  The squaretail coral grouper can also carry the parasite Anisakis typica, a type of worm that can live in fish.

[16] Eating undercooked or raw fish with Anisakis typica can lead to cases of anisakiasis, a parasitic disease that can result in abdominal pain and fevers.