Where Sea lettuce has been recorded
GBIF occurrence records for Ulva lactuca, mapped and tabulated by country.
34,709 georeferenced occurrence records with coordinates are published for Ulva lactuca through GBIF, from 114 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
- 34,709
- Countries / areas
- 114
- Mapped locations
- 267
- Records sampled for the map
- 3,000
- Inland records omitted
- 379
- Gbif taxonkey
- 5273309
Countries and areas with the most records (GBIF)
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — 9,081 records; Australia — 7,386 records; United States of America — 5,509 records; Canada — 3,436 records; Brazil — 1,006 records; Jersey — 859 records; Norway — 859 records; Mexico — 671 records; France — 618 records; Sweden — 594 records; Denmark — 507 records; Netherlands — 493 records; Korea, Republic of — 354 records; Germany — 328 records; Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) — 282 records.
Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 5273309) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=5273309&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY). Accessed 2026-09-23.
Marine regions with a WoRMS distribution record
European waters (ERMS scope); Mediterranean Sea; North West Atlantic; Belgian Exclusive Economic Zone; Pointe aux Oies (point); Pointe du Nid de Corbet; Boulogne, Pointe de la Creche; De Panne; Bredene; Dutch Exclusive Economic Zone; Wadden Sea; Wimereux; Zeeland; Kenyan Exclusive Economic Zone; Tanzanian Exclusive Economic Zone; Madagascar; Mauritian Exclusive Economic Zone; Réunion Exclusive Economic Zone; Seychellois Exclusive Economic Zone; Somali Exclusive Economic Zone; South Africa (country); Gulf of Maine; Spuikom; Duinbergen; Koksijde; Oostduinkerke; Gulf of Mexico; Irish Exclusive economic Zone; Azores Exclusive Economic Zone; Israeli part of the Mediterranean Sea - Eastern Basin.
Source: WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=145984 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.
How to read this map
The map plots a sample of 3,000 of the 34,709 records, deduplicated to a half-degree grid, so dense areas do not merge into one blob. The sample covers 62 of the 114 countries or areas with records; the areas absent from the sample hold 721 records in total (Faroe Islands, Isle of Man, Ghana, Philippines, Jamaica, Barbados, Croatia, Viet Nam).
379 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 5273309) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=5273309&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=145984 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-23.
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