The black jack has a circumtropical distribution, meaning their range extends around the Earth's equatorial oceans, thereby inhabiting the tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
In the Indian Ocean, they are found from Natal, South Africa in the west to northern Australia in the east.
They are patchily distributed along the east African and Asian coastline in the Indian Ocean, being absent from both the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, as well as several countries bordering the ocean.
The species is widely known from many Indian Ocean islands including the Seychelles, Réunion, Mauritius and Cargados Carajos In the Pacific Ocean, the black jack is known from parts of the Indonesian-Australian archipelago north to Japan, and through many of the Pacific Islands such as Hawaii, New Caledonia and Tonga.
The species range in the eastern Pacific has been ranges from Mexico and the Revillagigedo Islands in the north to Costa Rica in the south.
In the western Atlantic Ocean, black jack have been found from North Carolina in the U.S. south  to Rio de Janeiro, with the species most common in the Caribbean  and the northern Gulf of Mexico.
In the eastern Atlantic, the species has been reported from the Azores, Madeira St. Paul's Rocks, Ascension Island, and the Gulf of Guinea.

The black jack is a benthopelagic species rarely found in shallow inshore waters, preferring deep, clear offshore waters  of depths from 12 to 354 m. The species is most common in insular oceanic habitats and around offshore islands, rarely found close to the continents.
The black jack inhabits deep reefs and reef drop offs, also being common around oceanic seamounts.
It has been recorded from lagoons in the Solomon Islands.
The black jack has a circumtropical distribution, meaning their range extends around the Earth's equatorial oceans, thereby inhabiting the tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. In the Indian Ocean, they are found from Natal, South Africa in the west to northern Australia in the east. They are patchily distributed along the east African and Asian coastline in the Indian Ocean, being absent from both the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, as well as several countries bordering the ocean. The species is widely known from many Indian Ocean islands including the Seychelles, Réunion, Mauritius and Cargados Carajos In the Pacific Ocean, the black jack is known from parts of the Indonesian-Australian archipelago north to Japan, and through many of the Pacific Islands such as Hawaii, New Caledonia and Tonga. The species range in the eastern Pacific has been ranges from Mexico and the Revillagigedo Islands in the north to Costa Rica in the south. In the western Atlantic Ocean, black jack have been found from North Carolina in the U.S. south  to Rio de Janeiro, with the species most common in the Caribbean  and the northern Gulf of Mexico. In the eastern Atlantic, the species has been reported from the Azores, Madeira St. Paul's Rocks, Ascension Island, and the Gulf of Guinea.
The black jack is a benthopelagic species rarely found in shallow inshore waters, preferring deep, clear offshore waters  of depths from 12 to 354 m. The species is most common in insular oceanic habitats and around offshore islands, rarely found close to the continents. The black jack inhabits deep reefs and reef drop offs, also being common around oceanic seamounts. It has been recorded from lagoons in the Solomon Islands.
Caranx lugubris