Japanese Cormorant

Open encyclopedia reference

The Japanese cormorant (Phalacrocorax capillatus), also known as Temminck's cormorant, is a species of cormorant native to coastal areas of the east Palearctic. The species has a black body with a white throat and cheeks and a partially yellow bill. Juveniles are plainer and browner in appearance. It is one of the larger cormorants and is comparable in size to the great cormorant. Adults measure 81 to 92 cm (32 to 36 in) in length with a wingspan of around 152 cm (60 in), and may weigh 2.3 to 3.55 kg (5.1 to 7.8 lb). The Japanese cormorant is found along the coasts of East Asia, including China, Japan, North Korea, the Russian Far East, South Korea and Taiwan. It is migratory in parts of its range and feeds mainly on fish, which it catches by diving underwater. It is one of the species of cormorant traditionally trained by fishermen in Japan for cormorant fishing, a practice known as ukai (鵜飼). In Japanese, the species is known as umiu (ウミウ; "sea cormorant").

Wikipedia contributors, Japanese cormorant; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:14:11.867687+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Phalacrocorax capillatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850)

Name authority

(Temminck & Schlegel, 1850)

Common name

Japanese Cormorant

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Suliformes

Family

Phalacrocoracidae

Genus

Phalacrocorax

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderSuliformes
10. familyPhalacrocoracidae Reichenbach, 1849
11. genusPhalacrocorax Brisson, 1760
12. speciesPhalacrocorax capillatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Phalacrocorax. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 28 records assigned to Phalacrocoracidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174738 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4FQQB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.