Distribution
Western Atlantic: Bermuda and the Bahamas to Santa Catarina, Brazil (Ref. 57756); including lower east Florida coast but absent from the Gulf of Mexico except for a single record from Cayo Arcas, Mexico. Dawson (1982) noted that there are two distinct color patterns of this species with no definite intergrades. Some authors are of the opinion that these color extremes represent two different species and should this be true, Dawson stated that Kaup's vittatus has priority over ensenadae with AMNH 7792 documenting the Bermuda occurrence of Micrognathus vittatus.