Where purple urchin has been recorded
GBIF occurrence records for Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, 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
478,038 georeferenced occurrence records with coordinates are published for Strongylocentrotus purpuratus through GBIF, from 9 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
- 478,038
- Countries / areas
- 9
- Mapped locations
- 47
- Records sampled for the map
- 3,000
- Inland records omitted
- 39
- Gbif taxonkey
- 2278852
Countries and areas with the most records (GBIF)
United States of America — 475,938 records; Canada — 1,848 records; Mexico — 209 records; Sweden — 36 records; Denmark — 2 records; Antarctica — 1 records; Finland — 1 records; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — 1 records; Japan — 1 records.
Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 2278852) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2278852&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 478,038 records, deduplicated to a half-degree grid, so dense areas do not merge into one blob. The sample covers 3 of the 9 countries or areas with records; the areas absent from the sample hold 42 records in total (Sweden, Denmark, Antarctica, Finland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Japan).
39 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 2278852) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=2278852&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=240747 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-23.
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