The latent sling-jaw wrasse occurs in the western Pacific and has been recorded from Palau, Luzon and Cebu Province in the Philippines, Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi and Flores in Indonesia, Milne Bay Province and Madang Province in eastern Papua New Guinea, the Sololmon Islands and the Hibernia Reef, which lies within the territory of the Ashmore and Cartier Islands in the Timor Sea, to the north-west of Western Australia.