The International Ornithological Congress (IOC) recognizes these 42 species of cormorants and shags which are distributed among seven genera. One species, spectacled cormorant (formerly called Pallas's cormorant), is extinct.[1]
This list is presented according to the IOC taxonomic sequence and can also be sorted alphabetically by common name and binomial.
| Common name | Binomial name | data-sort-type="number" | IOC sequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pygmy cormorant | Microcarbo pygmaeus | 1 | |
| Reed cormorant | Microcarbo africanus | 2 | |
| Crowned cormorant | Microcarbo coronatus | 3 | |
| Little cormorant | Microcarbo niger | 4 | |
| Little pied cormorant | Microcarbo melanoleucos | 5 | |
| Red-legged cormorant | Poikilocarbo gaimardi | 6 | |
| Brandt's cormorant | Urile penicillatus | 7 | |
| Red-faced cormorant | Urile urile | 8 | |
| Pelagic cormorant | Urile pelagicus | 9 | |
| Spectacled cormorant | Urile perspicillatus | 10 | |
| Bank cormorant | Phalacrocorax neglectus | 11 | |
| Socotra cormorant | Phalacrocorax nigrogularis | 12 | |
| Pitt shag | Phalacrocorax featherstoni | 13 | |
| Spotted shag | Phalacrocorax punctatus | 14 | |
| Black-faced cormorant | Phalacrocorax fuscescens | 15 | |
| Australian pied cormorant | Phalacrocorax varius | 16 | |
| Little black cormorant | Phalacrocorax sulcirostris | 17 | |
| Indian cormorant | Phalacrocorax fuscicollis | 18 | |
| Cape cormorant | Phalacrocorax capensis | 19 | |
| Japanese cormorant | Phalacrocorax capillatus | 20 | |
| White-breasted cormorant | Phalacrocorax lucidus | 21 | |
| Great cormorant | Phalacrocorax carbo | 22 | |
| European shag | Gulosus aristotelis | 23 | |
| Flightless cormorant | Nannopterum harrisi | 24 | |
| Neotropic cormorant | Nannopterum brasilianum | 25 | |
| Double-crested cormorant | Nannopterum auritum | 26 | |
| Rock shag | Leucocarbo magellanicus | 27 | |
| Guanay cormorant | Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum | 28 | |
| Bounty shag | Leucocarbo ranfurlyi | 29 | |
| New Zealand king shag | Leucocarbo carunculatus | 30 | |
| Chatham Islands shag | Leucocarbo onslowi | 31 | |
| Otago shag | Leucocarbo chalconotus | 32 | |
| Foveaux shag | Leucocarbo stewarti | 33 | |
| Auckland shag | Leucocarbo colensoi | 34 | |
| Campbell shag | Leucocarbo campbelli | 35 | |
| Imperial shag | Leucocarbo atriceps | 36 | |
| South Georgia shag | Leucocarbo georgianus | 37 | |
| Crozet shag | Leucocarbo melanogenis | 38 | |
| Antarctic shag | Leucocarbo bransfieldensis | 39 | |
| Kerguelen shag | Leucocarbo verrucosus | 40 | |
| Heard Island shag | Leucocarbo nivalis | 41 | |
| Macquarie shag | Leucocarbo purpurascens | 42 | |