Where Purple-spined sea urchin has been recorded
GBIF occurrence records for Arbacia punctulata, mapped and tabulated by country.
2,375 georeferenced occurrence records with coordinates are published for Arbacia punctulata through GBIF, from 24 countries or marine areas. This page maps those records and lists where they come from. Occurrence records reflect where people have looked as well as where the species lives, so well-surveyed coastlines are over-represented.
- Georeferenced records
- 2,375
- Countries / areas
- 24
- Mapped locations
- 215
- Records sampled for the map
- 2,375
- Inland records omitted
- 67
- Gbif taxonkey
- 2278769
Countries and areas with the most records (GBIF)
United States of America — 2,167 records; Mexico — 125 records; Cuba — 14 records; Trinidad and Tobago — 11 records; Canada — 9 records; Honduras — 7 records; Belize — 6 records; Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) — 6 records; Guadeloupe — 4 records; Japan — 4 records; Bahamas — 3 records; French Guiana — 3 records; Cayman Islands — 3 records; Colombia — 2 records; Suriname — 2 records.
Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 2278769) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2278769&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY). Accessed 2026-09-23.
Marine regions with a WoRMS distribution record
North West Atlantic; Gulf of Mexico; Caribbean Sea; Cuba; Belize; Venezuela; Mexico; Panama; Trinidad and Tobago; Dominican Republic; Cuban Exclusive Economic Zone; Dominican Republic Exclusive Economic Zone; Belizean Exclusive Economic Zone; Mexican Exclusive Economic Zone [Caribbean part]; Panamanian part of the Caribbean Sea; Venezuelan part of the Caribbean Sea; North America.
Source: WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=158058 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.
How to read this map
The map plots a sample of 2,375 of the 2,375 records, deduplicated to a half-degree grid, so dense areas do not merge into one blob. The sample covers 24 of the 24 countries or areas with records; the areas absent from the sample hold 0 records in total.
67 records plotting inland were omitted: for a marine species those are almost always the holding institution's coordinates rather than a collection site.
Records show where the species has been observed and reported, not a modelled range.
Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 2278769) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2278769&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=158058 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-23.
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