NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Guanay Cormorant
Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum (R. P. Lesson, 1837)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The guanay cormorant or guanay shag (Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum) is a member of the cormorant family found on the Pacific coast of Peru and northern Chile. After breeding it spreads south to southern parts of Chile and north to Ecuador, and has also been recorded as far north as Panama and Colombia, probably a result of mass dispersal due to food shortage in El Niño years. Its major habitats include shallow seawater and rocky shores. A former population on the Patagonian Atlantic coast of Argentina appears to be extinct.
Wikipedia contributors, Guanay cormorant; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:26:05.225632+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum (R. P. Lesson, 1837)
- Name authority
- (R. P. Lesson, 1837)
- Common name
- Guanay Cormorant
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Suliformes
- Family
- Phalacrocoracidae
- Genus
- Leucocarbo
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderSuliformes
- familyPhalacrocoracidae Reichenbach, 1849
- genusLeucocarbo Bonaparte, 1856
- speciesLeucocarbo bougainvilliorum (R. P. Lesson, 1837)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Leucocarbo. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Kerguelen ShagLeucocarbo verrucosus (Cabanis, 1875) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| South Georgia ShagLeucocarbo georgianus (Lönnberg, 1906) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Crozet ShagLeucocarbo melanogenis (Blyth, 1860) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Stewart Island ShagLeucocarbo chalconotus (G. R. Gray, 1845) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Heard Island ShagLeucocarbo nivalis (Falla, 1937) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Campbell ShagLeucocarbo campbelli (Filhol, 1878) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Auckland ShagLeucocarbo colensoi (Buller, 1888) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Imperial ShagLeucocarbo atriceps (P. P. King, 1828) | PhalacrocoracidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Carbo bougainvillii R. P. Lesson, 1837 R. P. Lesson, 1837 | synonym |
| Phalacrocorax bougainvilliorum (R. P. Lesson, 1837) (R. P. Lesson, 1837) | synonym |
| Phalacrocorax bougainvillii (R. P. Lesson, 1837) (R. P. Lesson, 1837) | synonym |
| Leucocarbo bougainvillii (R. P. Lesson, 1837) (R. P. Lesson, 1837) | synonym |
| Carbo bougainvilliorum R. P. Lesson, 1837 R. P. Lesson, 1837 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1255072 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:DTFQG. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.