What Animal Lives Where

Where has the Spiny butterfly ray been recorded?

Gymnura altavela occurrence evidence comes from 1,072 records in 8 countries and territories, from 1933 to 2025. Most records come from United States.

ElasmobranchiiMyliobatiformesGymnuridaeGymnura

Observation evidence passport

Evidence found

1,072 records across 8 countries and territories, 1933–2025.

Gymnura altavela · GBIF taxon key 5216232

Source coverage

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

Refreshed 2026-09-21. Inspect the taxon on GBIF.

What this means

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

7 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: September. 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

19332025

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

Where Spiny butterfly ray has been recorded

The countries below show where occurrence evidence exists for Spiny butterfly ray. 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 909
Mauritania 142
Benin 5
Brazil 5
Spain 5
Israel 4
Guinea-Bissau 1
Liberia 1
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.