Where Blueblotch butterflyfish has been recorded

GBIF occurrence records for Chaetodon plebeius, mapped and tabulated by country.

6,110 georeferenced occurrence records with coordinates are published for Chaetodon plebeius through GBIF, from 22 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: 6,110
Countries / areas: 22
Mapped locations: 188
Records sampled for the map: 3,000
Inland records omitted: 19
Gbif taxonkey: 2385583

Countries and areas with the most records (GBIF)

Australia — 4,768 records; New Caledonia — 669 records; Fiji — 198 records; Tonga — 176 records; Norfolk Island — 132 records; Japan — 73 records; Papua New Guinea — 22 records; Chinese Taipei — 19 records; Thailand — 17 records; Vanuatu — 9 records; Philippines — 4 records; Wallis and Futuna — 4 records; Hong Kong — 3 records; India — 3 records; Palau — 3 records.

Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 2385583) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2385583&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY). Accessed 2026-09-23.

How to read this map

The map plots a sample of 3,000 of the 6,110 records, deduplicated to a half-degree grid, so dense areas do not merge into one blob. The sample covers 15 of the 22 countries or areas with records; the areas absent from the sample hold 21 records in total (Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, Palau, Micronesia (Federated States of), Egypt, Sri Lanka, Maldives).

19 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 2385583) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2385583&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=273354 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-23.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many countries has the Blueblotch butterflyfish been documented in?

Chaetodon plebeius has occurrence records from 22 countries or marine areas, with a total of 6,110 georeferenced records published through GBIF.

How many georeferenced records exist for the Blueblotch butterflyfish?

There are 6,110 records with coordinates available through GBIF under taxon key 2385583, spanning 22 countries or marine areas.

Why do some coastlines show far more Blueblotch butterflyfish sightings than others?

Occurrence records reflect both where the fish actually lives and where observers have looked, so heavily surveyed shorelines naturally appear over-represented in the data.