What Animal Lives Where

Where has the Bull shark been recorded?

Carcharhinus leucas occurrence evidence comes from 48,753 records in 20 countries and territories, from 1896 to 2026. Most records come from United States.

Bull shark
Bull shark — Photo (display-sized rendition): João D'Andretta · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ElasmobranchiiCarcharhiniformesCarcharhinidaeCarcharhinus

Observation evidence passport

Evidence found

48,753 records across 20 countries and territories, 1896–2026.

Carcharhinus leucas · GBIF taxon key 2418036

Source coverage

CC0 GBIF Animalia occurrence facets, including country, month and year summaries.

Refreshed 2026-08-23. Inspect the taxon on GBIF.

What this means

The species has been recorded in the listed places in the stated source universe. Peak month: June.

12 months reach at least 10% of the peak facet count.

What this does not mean

repeated describes the record pattern, not a formal range, residency, abundance or conservation assessment.

A single record remains evidence of a recording, not proof that a population lives there.

Compare this animal’s observation pattern

When it is recorded

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: June. Records cluster in the months an animal is present and being looked for, so a summer peak can reflect observer effort as much as the animal.

Records over time

18962026

Recording effort has risen steeply almost everywhere since the 1990s, so a rising line usually shows more observers rather than more animals.

Where Bull shark has been recorded

The countries below show where occurrence evidence exists for Bull shark. They do not define a complete habitat range: survey effort differs by place, and historical or one-off records can appear alongside repeated presence.

PlaceRecordsShare
United States 48,193
Puerto Rico 444
Panama 24
Mexico 19
Benin 18
South Africa 17
Bahamas 8
ZZ 7
New Caledonia 5
Belize 3
Myanmar 3
Colombia 2
Costa Rica 2
India 2
Australia 1
Bermuda 1
Fiji 1
Gabon 1
Guatemala 1
Seychelles 1

Related animals

Others in the family Carcharhinidae.

Caribbean reef shark
Caribbean reef shark
25,173 records
Silky Shark
Silky Shark
16,244 records
Sandbar shark
Sandbar shark
3,966 records
Whitetip Shark
Whitetip Shark
1,530 records
Grey Shark
Grey Shark
1,401 records
Blacktip Reef Shark
Blacktip Reef Shark
856 records
Spot-tail shark
Spot-tail shark
383 records
Silvertip Shark
Silvertip Shark
108 records
Record pattern: repeated
Repeated records across many years and months. This is inferred from how many years and months the animal appears in, not from a range map — treat it as evidence, not a formal assessment.