 In the Pacific, it occurs from Japan, Taiwan, and the Korean Peninsula in the northwest, southward to Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand, and eastward to the western coast of the Americas from Baja California to Chile, including the Marshall, Phoenix, Palmyra, Johnston, Marquesas, Line, and Hawaiian Islands in between.In New Zealand this species has been recorded at the Three Kings Ridge, off the coast of Northland and on the northern Kermadec Ridge.From distribution records, the crocodile shark's range seems to be bound by the latitudes 37°N and 44°S, where the average sea surface temperature is 20 °C (68 °F).