Where Blacktip reef shark has been recorded
GBIF occurrence records for Carcharhinus melanopterus, mapped and tabulated by country.
227,611 georeferenced occurrence records with coordinates are published for Carcharhinus melanopterus through GBIF, from 78 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
- 227,611
- Countries / areas
- 78
- Mapped locations
- 283
- Records sampled for the map
- 3,000
- Inland records omitted
- 36
- Gbif taxonkey
- 2417981
Countries and areas with the most records (GBIF)
Australia — 223,256 records; French Polynesia — 1,056 records; Maldives — 645 records; Indonesia — 433 records; United States Minor Outlying Islands — 312 records; Seychelles — 239 records; Thailand — 166 records; Malaysia — 165 records; Solomon Islands — 118 records; Fiji — 115 records; Cocos (Keeling) Islands — 89 records; Micronesia (Federated States of) — 80 records; Marshall Islands — 79 records; Guam — 78 records; New Caledonia — 62 records.
Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 2417981) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2417981&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY). Accessed 2026-09-23.
Marine regions with a WoRMS distribution record
European waters (ERMS scope); Mozambican Exclusive Economic Zone; Kenyan Exclusive Economic Zone; Tanzanian Exclusive Economic Zone; Somali Exclusive Economic Zone; Seychellois Exclusive Economic Zone; Madagascar; Mauritian Exclusive Economic Zone; Réunion Exclusive Economic Zone; Comoran Exclusive Economic Zone; Eritrean Exclusive Economic Zone; Aldabra; Red Sea; South Africa (country); Djiboutian Exclusive Economic Zone; Rodrigues; Chagos; Israeli part of the Mediterranean Sea - Eastern Basin; Western Indian Ocean.
Source: WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=105795 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.
How to read this map
The map plots a sample of 3,000 of the 227,611 records, deduplicated to a half-degree grid, so dense areas do not merge into one blob. The sample covers 44 of the 78 countries or areas with records; the areas absent from the sample hold 234 records in total (Svalbard and Jan Mayen, American Samoa, Faroe Islands, Oman, France, Denmark, French Southern Territories, Mauritius).
36 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 2417981) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2417981&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=105795 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-23.
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