It is present in the temperate and cold waters of the great oceans of the northern hemisphere. However, due to overexploitation, its current distribution has been severely restricted, and only partially reflects the original. In the North Atlantic there are two apparently independent populations: one on the western slope and another on the eastern slope. The records of this species in the North-East Atlantic extend from Iceland and the North Cape to Cintra Bay, in northern Mauritania. In the Mediterranean, only two strandings occurred during the second half of the last century, one on the coasts of Italy and the other in Algeria.