Blue-eyed shag

They are found around the colder parts of the Southern Hemisphere, especially near southern South America, Antarctica, and New Zealand. Many are endemic to remote islands. Determining which types are species and which are subspecies of what larger species is problematic; various recent authorities have recognized from 8 to 14 species and have placed them in a variety of genera. The common names are even more confusing, "like myriad footprints criss-crossing in the snow and about as easy to disentangle." Only one common name is given for most species here.

Taxonomy

The genus Leucocarbo was introduced in 1856 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. He did not specify a type species but this was designated as the guanay cormorant by William Ogilvie-Grant in 1898. The name Leucocarbo combines the Ancient Greek leukos meaning "white" with the genus name Carbo introduced by Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799.

A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2014 found that Leucocarbo is sister to the American cormorants in the genus Nannopterum; the genera split between 6.7 - 8.0 million years ago.

The cladogram below showing the relationships between the species in the genus is based on a molecular phylogenetic study by Nicolas Rawlence and collaborators that was published in 2022.

The genus contains 15 species: