The Mediterranean storm petrel

Abstract

The Storm Petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus, has a wide distribution in the Atlantic and Mediterranean; according to taxonomists there are two genetically and morphologically separate populations, one in the Atlantic (ssp. pelagicus), the other in the Mediterranean (ssp. melitensis). The lack of exchanges between the two populations, the fact that the Mediterranean population winters within the Basin and some differences in the reproductive cycle suggest that the speciation process is concluded and pelagicus and melitensis should be considered two separate species.