Where Blacktip shark has been recorded
GBIF occurrence records for Carcharhinus limbatus, mapped and tabulated by country.
44,579 georeferenced occurrence records with coordinates are published for Carcharhinus limbatus through GBIF, from 93 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
- 44,579
- Countries / areas
- 93
- Mapped locations
- 186
- Records sampled for the map
- 3,000
- Inland records omitted
- 79
- Gbif taxonkey
- 2417970
Countries and areas with the most records (GBIF)
Australia — 20,937 records; United States of America — 18,136 records; Puerto Rico — 2,445 records; Ecuador — 653 records; Mexico — 294 records; Germany — 289 records; French Guiana — 236 records; Faroe Islands — 140 records; South Africa — 112 records; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — 110 records; Italy — 98 records; Nigeria — 79 records; Austria — 72 records; Gabon — 57 records; Ghana — 50 records.
Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 2417970) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2417970&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY). Accessed 2026-09-23.
Marine regions with a WoRMS distribution record
European waters (ERMS scope); North West Atlantic; Mozambican Exclusive Economic Zone; Kenyan Exclusive Economic Zone; Tanzanian Exclusive Economic Zone; Madagascar; Somali Exclusive Economic Zone; Seychellois Exclusive Economic Zone; Comoran Exclusive Economic Zone; Aldabra; South Africa (country); Mauritian Exclusive Economic Zone; Djiboutian Exclusive Economic Zone; Eritrean Exclusive Economic Zone; Réunion Exclusive Economic Zone; Red Sea; Gulf of Maine; Gulf of Mexico; Israeli part of the Mediterranean Sea - Eastern Basin; South African Exclusive Economic Zone.
Source: WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=105793 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.
How to read this map
The map plots a sample of 3,000 of the 44,579 records, deduplicated to a half-degree grid, so dense areas do not merge into one blob. The sample covers 37 of the 93 countries or areas with records; the areas absent from the sample hold 1,354 records in total (Germany, Faroe Islands, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Italy, Nigeria, Austria, Gabon, Ghana).
79 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 2417970) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2417970&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=105793 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-23.
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