Species Thalassarche steadi Falla, 1933
White-capped Albatross
- Thalassarche cauta steadi Falla, R.A. 1933. Notes on New Zealand Petrels, with descriptions of new forms and some new records. Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum 1(4): 173-180 [179].
Type data:
Holotype AMNZ LB.3231 (AV 153.3) Skin (Paratype (female) not located), Foveaux Strait, New Zealand.Type locality references:
Gill, B.J. 1983. Type specimens of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals in the Auckland Institute and Museum. Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum 20: 203–215 [208].
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
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)
General References
Chambers GK, Moeke C, Steel R & Trueman JWH 2009. Phylogenetic analysis of the 24 named albatross taxa based on full mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA sequences. Notornis 56: 82-94
Double MC, Gales R, Reid T, Brothers N & Abbott CL 2003. Morphometric comparison on Australian shy and New Zealand white-capped albatrosses. Emu 103: 287-294
Jimenez S, Marquez A, Abreu M, Forselledo R, Pereira A & Domingo A. 2015. Molecular anlaysis suggests the occurrence of shy albatross in the south-western Atlantic Ocean and its by-catch in longline fishing. Emu 115: 58-62
Penhallurick, J 2012. The number of albatross (Diomedeidae) species. The Open Ornithology Journal 5: 32-41
Common Name References
Dickinson, E.C. (ed.) 2003. The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. London : Christopher Helm 1039 pp. (White-capped Albatross)
History of changes
| 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 |