What Animal Lives Where

Where has the Thornback Ray been recorded?

Raja clavata occurrence evidence comes from 590 records in 18 countries and territories, from 1933 to 2026. Most records come from Belgium.

Thornback Ray
Thornback Ray — Photo (display-sized rendition): Hans Hillewaert · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
ElasmobranchiiRajiformesRajidaeRaja

Observation evidence passport

Evidence found

590 records across 18 countries and territories, 1933–2026.

Raja clavata · GBIF taxon key 5216024

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: January.

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: January. 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

19332026

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

Where Thornback Ray has been recorded

The countries below show where occurrence evidence exists for Thornback 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
Belgium 287
United Kingdom 177
Sweden 43
Israel 27
France 17
Netherlands 10
Ireland 8
Benin 5
Germany 4
Greece 2
Morocco 2
Norway 2
Angola 1
Denmark 1
Namibia 1
Portugal 1
South Africa 1
ZZ 1

Related animals

Others in the family Rajidae.

Starry ray
Starry ray
8,714 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.