 The species is abundant in the United States territorial waters of the Atlantic ocean extending north into Nantucket Shoals and Georges Bank and moving down along the east coast of the United States and into the Gulf of Mexico along the continental shelf . Great northern tilefish are have been reported to be most abundant between 300 feet ( 91 m ) and 480 feet ( 150 m ) deep at 76 ° F ( 24 ° C ) . The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report differs , stating that the species live at the bottom of the ocean where they burrow into the sediment , between 250 feet ( 76 m ) and 1 @,@ 500 feet ( 460 m ) deep where the temperature ranges from 9 ° C ( 48 ° F ) and 58 ° F ( 14 ° C ) . 
