Australian Biological Resources Study

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Species Thalassarche steadi Falla, 1933

White-capped Albatross

 

Introduction

Thalassarche cauta and T. steadi are considered to be separate species by most sources. However, it is worth noting that they are extremely difficult to distinguish using morphological characters (T. steadi is slightly larger and has a paler face (Penhallurick 2013)) as both species show substantial overlap in morphometrics, with no single feature significantly different between taxa (Double et al. 2003). The two species can be differentiated by molecular data, where cytochrome b sequences (Chambers et al. 2009) and SNPs (Jimenez et al. 2015) have been used to distinguish the two species.

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria


Extra Distribution Information

Breeds on Auckland Island group, NZ, mostly ranging east to South America but some reaching SE Australia


IBRA and IMCRA regions (map not available)

IMCRA

Tasmania Province (10), Southeast Transition (11), Central Eastern Province (12), Spencer Gulf Shelf Province (33), Western Bass Strait Shelf Transition (34), Bass Strait Shelf Province (35), Tasmanian Shelf Province (36), Southeast Shelf Transition (37), Central Eastern Shelf Province (38), West Tasmania Transition (9)

History of changes

Note that this list may be incomplete for dates prior to September 2013.
Published As part of group Action Date Action Type Compiler(s)
28-Sep-2022 PROCELLARIIFORMES 01-Nov-2022 MODIFIED
DIOMEDEIDAE G.R. Gray, 1840 04-Apr-2019 ADDED