 Its common name is because it is mostly captured at night.The distribution of the night shark extends along the outer continental shelves and upper continental slopes of the Atlantic Ocean, from the U.S. state of Massachusetts to Argentina in the west, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, and from Senegal to northern Namibia in the east.In United States waters, it is relatively common off North Carolina and Florida (particularly the Florida Straits) and rarer elsewhere.