The Spadenose Shark occurs in UAE waters on the Sea of Oman coast, and potentially the Arabian Gulf coast. Its presence in the Arabian Gulf is unclear, but historic records suggest it may occur there (Wright et al. 1990). Extensive market and fishery surveys have failed to identify it there (Moore et al. 2012, Jabado et al. 2015). Globally, it is widespread in the Indo-West Pacific (Ebert et al. 2013).

Within the UAE, this species has been recorded from a single locality at low altitude in the southeast of the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011). There are reportedly other scattered specimens within the adjacent Dibba zone, although the plant does not seem to generally occur in the Hajar Mountains (Feulner 2011). Present in northern Oman at c. 2,500 m (Ghazanfar pers. comm. 2019). Globally, this species occurs from Pakistan to Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Plants of the World Online does not list the UAE as a native country of occurrence for this species, but its occurrence in the Hajar Mountains is consistent with an Oman-Makran distribution, characteristic of many other species of regional plants and animals.

Within the UAE, this species has been recorded from just below the summit of Jebel Al-Iyeli (c.1,000 m elevation) and from Wadi Helo (Feulner 2014, El-Keblawy et al. 2016), two nearby localities in the Olive Highlands. The global range of this species is Sahara to Kenya, Madagascar according to Plants of the World online (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019), whilst Naderi and Rahiminejad (2015) give the distribution as South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Morocco and Yemen. However, Plants of the World Online does not list the UAE as a native country of occurrence of this species.

Few records of this species are known from the UAE. Jongbloed et al. (2003) provided records of this species (as Malcolmia africana) in Ras al Khaimah, Fujairah, and Jebel Hafeet. The only locality in the Ru'us al-Jibal known to G.R. Feulner (in litt, MEW 2010) is within Oman, rather than the UAE. The species is known from adjacent parts of Oman (Jebel Qiwi (Qawha); <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00384215"">RBGE Herbarium</a>: north slope of Jebel Qawah in the Ru'us al-Jibal; coll. R.A. Western, 1988). The global range of this species is around much of the Mediterranean region, through the Arabian Peninsula, and east to Central Asia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

The species is apparently known from two records in the UAE, with its occurrence and distribution obscured by confusion with other members of the genus. The two know records are held by RBG Edinburgh Herbarium; (i) <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00209884"">10 km east (inland) from Jumeirah, Dubai</a>, 1986, and (ii) <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00209883"">Mushrif park, Dubai</a>, 1986. This species was first described in 2005 from Saudi Arabia; it occurs from Iraq through the Arabian Peninsula to Yemen (Väre and Kukkonen 2005).

Within the UAE, this species has been recorded from Wadi Wurayah in addition to the Hajar Mountains (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Feulner 2011), where it is known from a small number of sites such as Wadi Hayl. It is thought that it may also occur in the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011). This species seems to be found more often at low-medium elevations (Feulner 2011). Globally, the native range for this species spans across Macaronesia, Africa and on to India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

This species was cited for the UAE by Jongbloed et al. (2000), and Jongbloed et al. (2003) mention records from Ajman and Dubai by A.R.Western and U. Deil. Globally, the species is restricted to the Gulf States and Iran (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

MEW (2010) state that the species treated by Jongbloed et al. (2003) as Senna alexandrina (from Ras al Khaimah and Rams) in fact refers to S. holoserica, however, this requires confirmation (G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2019) and the distribution of S. holosericea in the UAE is uncertain. Globally, the native range of this species extends from Somalia and Egypt to the Arabian Peninsula and on to India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, the only record comes from the northern mountains, however this needs to be confirmed (MEW 2010). It is possible that this species has been misidentified within the UAE, or that records mentioned by MEW (2010) actually occur within Oman. Globally, this species occurs in Oman and from Iran to Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019). Plants of the World Online does not list the UAE as native country of occurrence for this species (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).

Within the UAE, the species was listed for the UAE by Jongbloed et al. (2000). It is recorded from the Ru'us al-Jibal with two known records (Feulner 2011). Due to the lack of confirmed records, the species should be considered as 'uncertain' within the UAE (G.R. Feulner, in litt., MEW 2010). The species was recorded from the Musandam Mountains of northern Oman by Western (1991). The native range of this species encompasses the eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).