Where Blackback butterflyfish has been recorded

Countries and areas with the most records (GBIF)

Australia — 3,134 records; New Caledonia — 379 records; Indonesia — 368 records; Egypt — 344 records; Tonga — 254 records; Fiji — 172 records; Norfolk Island — 91 records; Palau — 89 records; Philippines — 78 records; Japan — 76 records; Seychelles — 72 records; Réunion — 65 records; Chinese Taipei — 60 records; Guam — 59 records; American Samoa — 49 records.

Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 2385556) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2385556&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY). Accessed 2026-09-25.

Marine regions with a WoRMS distribution record

Mozambican Exclusive Economic Zone; Mauritian Exclusive Economic Zone; Seychellois Exclusive Economic Zone; Kenyan Exclusive Economic Zone; Réunion Exclusive Economic Zone; East Africa; Red Sea; Cargados Carajos; South Africa (country); Chagos; Rodrigues; Madagascar.

Source: WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=218743 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-25.

How to read this map

The map plots a sample of 3,000 of the 5,817 records, deduplicated to a half-degree grid, so dense areas do not merge into one blob. The sample covers 43 of the 55 countries or areas with records; the areas absent from the sample hold 37 records in total (Wallis and Futuna, French Southern Territories, South Africa, Djibouti, French Polynesia, United States of America, Yemen, Christmas Island).

28 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 2385556) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2385556&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=218743 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-25.