Spotted shag
Phalacrocorax punctatus (Sparrman, 1786)
The spotted shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus) is a species in the family Phalacrocoracidae, order Suliformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.16 kg to 1.21 kg. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the spotted shag
- Weight
- 1.16 kg – 1.21 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 91 cm – 99 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- marinesrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.7src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Aquaticsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the spotted shag?
Where does the spotted shag live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The spotted shag is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the spotted shag?
The spotted shag or pārekareka (Phalacrocorax punctatus) is a species of cormorant endemic to New Zealand. Though originally classified as Phalacrocorax punctatus, it is sufficiently different in appearance from typical members of that genus that for a time it was placed in a separate genus, Stictocarbo, along with a similar species, the Pitt shag. Subsequent genetic studies show that the spotted shag's lineage is nested within the typical shags.
From the Wikipedia article “Spotted shag” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spotted_shag&oldid=1369533412), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the spotted shag endangered?
The spotted shag is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the spotted shag classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderSuliformes
- familyPhalacrocoracidae
- genusPhalacrocorax
- SpeciesPhalacrocorax punctatus (Sparrman, 1786)
Synonyms Leucocarbo punctatus, Pelecanus punctatus, Pelicanus punctatus, Stictocarbo punctatus, Stictocarbo punctatus punctatus, Stictocarbo punctatus sassi
Other names and names in other languages (49)
- Blue shagEnglish
- Blue spotted shagEnglish
- Common spotted shagEnglish
- Eastern spotted shagEnglish
- Mainland spotted shagEnglish
- Pitt island shagEnglish
- Spotted cormorantEnglish
- Stewart island spotted shagEnglish
- غاق منقطArabic
- corb marí crestatCatalan
- Corb marí pigallatCatalan
- kormorán novozélandskýCzech
- Mulfran fannogWelsh
- Plettet SkarvDanish
- TüpfelscharbeGerman
- PunktokormoranoEsperanto
- punkta kormoranoEsperanto
- Cormorán moteadoSpanish
- täpikkormoran (täpikkarbas)Estonian
- TäpikkormoranEstonian
- باکلان خالدارPersian
- partamerimetsoFinnish
- Cormoran mouchetéFrench
- קורמורן מנומרHebrew
- kudravi vranacCroatian
- pettyes kárókatonaHungarian
- Cormorano macchiatoItalian
- ゴマダラウJapanese
- dėmėtasis kormoranasLithuanian
- ParekarekaMāori
- Kawau tikitikiMāori
- PārekarekaMāori
- gevlekte aalscholverDutch
- KvithalsflekkskarvNorwegian Nynorsk
- hvithalsflekkskarvNorwegian
- kormoran nakrapianyPolish
- biguá-pintadoPortuguese
- Cormorão-pintadoPortuguese
- corvo-marinho-de-pintasPortuguese
- corvo-marinho-sarapintadoPortuguese
- Пятнистый бакланRussian
- kormorán bodkovanýSlovak
- Pegavi vranacSerbian
- fläckskarvSwedish
- Benekli KarabatakçıkTurkish
- Parekareka KarabatağıTurkish
- баклан бурийUkrainian
- 点斑鸬鹚Chinese
- 點斑鸕鷀Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the spotted shag
Other species in the same genus Phalacrocorax.
Great cormorant
Phalacrocorax carbo
Indian cormorant
Phalacrocorax fuscicollis
Japanese cormorant
Phalacrocorax capillatus
Little black cormorant
Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
Cape cormorant
Phalacrocorax capensis
Black-faced cormorant
Phalacrocorax fuscescens
CompareSpotted shag vs Great cormorantSpotted shag vs Indian cormorantSpotted shag vs Japanese cormorantSpotted shag vs Little black cormorant
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the spotted shag?
An adult spotted shag weighs 1.16 kg – 1.21 kg and has a wingspan of 91 cm – 99 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the spotted shag live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the spotted shag for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the spotted shag endangered?
The spotted shag is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the spotted shag?
The spotted shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus) belongs to the family Phalacrocoracidae in the order Suliformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Spotted shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-shag
“Spotted shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-shag.
@misc{spotted_shag_2026,
title = {Spotted shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spotted-shag},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}