The type of Rapa Shearwater Puffinus (newelli?) myrtae from the Austral Islands, Polynesia, with remarks on the morphological variation of the taxon

Abstract

Rapa Shearwater Puffinus (newelli?) myrtae is known solely from five specimens held in Tring and Paris museums, and from observations on the breeding islands. It has a potentially tiny breeding population that is apparently restricted currently to islets off Rapa (it formerly also bred on the main island of Rapa), as well as probably on Marotiri (south of Rapa), in the Austral Islands, Polynesia. Clear differences in morphology between the series in Paris and the holotype in Tring can be explained in terms of age-related variation, with the latter specimen being a juvenile. As a result, we describe adult plumage in detail for the first time. Genetic analysis confirmed that the Paris and Tring specimens can be unequivocally referred to the same taxon.