Blue-eyed shag
Blue-eyed shags | |
---|---|
South Georgia shag Phalacrocorax georgianus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Suliformes |
Family: | Phalacrocoracidae Reichenbach, 1850 |
Genus: | Leucocarbo Bonaparte, 1856 |
Species | |
8–14, see text | |
Synonyms | |
Phalacrocorax (in part) |
The blue-eyed shags are a group of closely related cormorant taxa. All have a blue, purple or red ring around the eye (not a blue iris); other shared features are white underparts (at least in some individuals) and pink feet.[1]
Some taxonomic authorities, including the International Ornithologists' Union, place this species in the genus Leucocarbo. Others place it in the genus Phalacrocorax.
They are found around the colder parts of the Southern Hemisphere, especially near southern South America, Antarctica, and New Zealand. Many are endemic to remote islands. Determining which types are species and which are subspecies of what larger species is problematic; various recent authorities have recognized from 8 to 14 species and have placed them in a variety of genera. The common names are even more confusing, "like myriad footprints criss-crossing in the snow and about as easy to disentangle." Only one common name is given for most species here.[1]
- Guanay cormorant, Leucocarbo bougainvillii
- Imperial shag or blue-eyed shag, Leucocarbo (atriceps) atriceps
- White-bellied shag or king cormorant, Leucocarbo (atriceps) albiventer
- Antarctic shag, Leucocarbo bransfieldensis
- South Georgia shag, Leucocarbo georgianus
- Heard Island shag, Leucocarbo nivalis
- Crozet shag, Leucocarbo melanogenis
- Macquarie shag, Leucocarbo purpurascens
- Kerguelen shag, Leucocarbo verrucosus
- New Zealand king shag or rough-faced shag, Leucocarbo carunculatus
- Otago shag, Leucocarbo chalconotus
- Foveaux shag, Leucocarbo stewarti
- Chatham shag, Leucocarbo onslowi
- Auckland shag, Leucocarbo colensoi
- Campbell shag, Leucocarbo campbelli
- Bounty shag, Leucocarbo ranfurlyi
Leucocarbo could be expanded by several American species (including the flightless cormorant and rock shag).[2] See Cormorant species in phylogenetic sequence for further information.
References
- 1 2 Nelson, J. Bryan (2006), Pelicans, Cormorants, and Their Relatives: The Pelecaniformes, Oxford University Press, U.S.A., pp. 476–511, Plate 8, ISBN 978-0-19-857727-0
- ↑ Kennedy, M.; Gray, R.D.; Spencer, H.G. (2000). "The Phylogenetic Relationships of the Shags and Cormorants: Can Sequence Data Resolve a Disagreement between Behavior and Morphology?" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 17 (3): 345–359. doi:10.1006/mpev.2000.0840.