Where Horned sea star has been recorded
GBIF occurrence records for Protoreaster nodosus, mapped and tabulated by country.
Distribution map plotted from GBIF.org occurrence records; basemap Natural Earth 110m · GBIF records CC0 / CC BY; Natural Earth public domain
3,250 georeferenced occurrence records with coordinates are published for Protoreaster nodosus 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
- 3,250
- Countries / areas
- 24
- Mapped locations
- 168
- Records sampled for the map
- 3,000
- Inland records omitted
- 58
- Gbif taxonkey
- 5187269
Countries and areas with the most records (GBIF)
Singapore — 866 records; Indonesia — 815 records; Philippines — 601 records; New Caledonia — 254 records; Papua New Guinea — 148 records; Australia — 102 records; Malaysia — 91 records; Vanuatu — 89 records; Palau — 80 records; Thailand — 45 records; Viet Nam — 39 records; Timor-Leste — 34 records; Solomon Islands — 26 records; Tonga — 18 records; Japan — 12 records.
Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 5187269) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=5187269&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY). Accessed 2026-09-23.
Marine regions with a WoRMS distribution record
West Indian Ocean; Eastern Africa & Madagascar; Kenyan Exclusive Economic Zone; Cargados Carajos; Seychellois Exclusive Economic Zone; Palau Islands; New Caledonian Exclusive Economic Zone; Spanish part of the Balearic Sea.
Source: WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=213285 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.
How to read this map
The map plots a sample of 3,000 of the 3,250 records, deduplicated to a half-degree grid, so dense areas do not merge into one blob. The sample covers 19 of the 24 countries or areas with records; the areas absent from the sample hold 13 records in total (Mauritius, Kenya, Madagascar, United States of America, Samoa).
58 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 5187269) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=5187269&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=213285 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-23.
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