Mergini

{{Short description|Tribe of birds}}  {{Automatic taxobox | name = Sea ducks | image = Histrionicus histrionicus drake Barnegat.jpg | image_caption = Harlequin duck, ''Histrionicus histrionicus'' (male) | taxon = Mergini | authority = Rafinesque, 1815 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = ''Clangula'' ''Histrionicus'' ''Polysticta'' ''Somateria'' ''Melanitta'' ''Bucephala'' ''Mergellus'' ''Lophodytes'' ''Mergus'' †''Camptorhynchus'' }}

The '''sea ducks''' ('''Mergini''') are a tribe of the duck subfamily of birds, the Anatinae. The taxonomy of this group is incomplete. Some authorities separate the group as a subfamily, while others remove some genera. Most species within the group spend their winters near coastal waters. Many species have developed specialized salt glands to allow them to tolerate salt water, but these are poorly developed in juveniles. Some of the species prefer riverine habitats. All but two of the 22 species in this group live in far northern latitudes.

The fish-eating members of this group, such as the mergansers and smew, have serrated edges to their bills to help them grip their prey and are often known as "sawbills". Other sea ducks forage by diving underwater, taking molluscs or crustaceans from the sea floor. The Mergini take on the eclipse plumage during the late summer and molt into their breeding plumage during the winter.

==Species== There are twenty-two species in ten genera: {| class="wikitable" |- ! Image !! Genus !! Living species |- |250px|| ''Clangula'' {{au|Leach, 1819}}|| * Long-tailed duck (formerly oldsquaw) (''Clangula hyemalis'') |- |250px|| ''Histrionicus'' {{au|Lesson, 1828}}|| * Harlequin duck (''Histrionicus histrionicus'') |- |250px|| ''Polysticta'' {{au|Eyton, 1836}}|| *Steller's eider (''Polysticta stelleri'') |- |250px|| ''Somateria'' {{au|Leach, 1819}}|| * Spectacled eider (''Somateria fischeri'') * Common eider (''Somateria mollissima'') * King eider (''Somateria spectabilis'') |- |250px|| ''Melanitta'' {{au|F. Boie, 1822}}|| * Common scoter (''Melanitta nigra'') * Black scoter or American scoter (''Melanitta americana'') (sometimes considered a subspecies of ''M. nigra'') * Velvet scoter (''Melanitta fusca'') * White-winged scoter (''Melanitta deglandi'') (sometimes considered a subspecies of ''M. fusca'') *Stejneger's scoter (''Melanitta stejnegeri'') * Surf scoter (''Melanitta perspicillata'') |- |250px|| ''Bucephala'' {{au|S.F. Baird, 1858}}|| *Common goldeneye (''Bucephala clangula'') *Barrow's goldeneye (''Bucephala islandica'') *Bufflehead (''Bucephala albeola'') |- |250px|| ''Mergellus'' {{au|Selby, 1840}}|| * Smew (''Mergellus albellus'') |- |250px|| ''Lophodytes'' {{au|Reichenbach, 1853}}|| * Hooded merganser (''Lophodytes cucullatus'') |- |250px|| ''Mergus'' {{au|Linnaeus, 1758}}|| * Red-breasted merganser (''Mergus serrator'') * †New Zealand merganser (''Mergus australis'') * Common merganser or goosander (''Mergus merganser'') * Brazilian merganser (''Mergus octosetaceus'') * Scaly-sided merganser (''Mergus squamatus'') |- |250px|| †''Camptorhynchus'' {{au|}}|| * †Labrador duck (''Camptorhynchus labradorius'') (extinct) |- |}

Below is a phylogeny based on a mitogenomic study of the placement of the Labrador duck and the diving "goose" ''Chendytes lawi''.<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Janet C. Buckner |author2=Ryan Ellingson |author3=David A. Gold |author4=Terry L. Jones |author5=David K. Jacobs |year=2018 |title=Mitogenomics supports an unexpected taxonomic relationship for the extinct diving duck ''Chendytes lawi'' and definitively places the extinct Labrador Duck |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=122 |pages= 102–109|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2017.12.008 |pmid=29247849 |url=https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/ssci_fac/99 }}</ref> {{clade| style=font-size:100%; line-height:100%; |label1=Mergini |1={{Clade |1={{Clade |label1= |1={{Clade |1=''Clangula hyemalis'' |2={{Clade |1=''Histrionicus histrionicus'' |2={{Clade |1={{Clade |label1= |1={{Clade |1=''Polysticta stelleri'' |2=†''Camptorhynchus labradorius'' }} }} |2={{Clade |1=''Somateria fischeri'' |2={{Clade |1=''Somateria mollissima'' |2=''Somateria spectabilis'' }} }} }} }} }} }} |2={{Clade |1={{Clade |label1= |1={{Clade |1=''Melanitta nigra'' |2={{Clade |1=''Melanitta deglandi'' |2=''Melanitta perspicillata''}} }} }} |label2= |2={{Clade |1={{Clade |label1= |1={{Clade |1=''Bucephala albeola'' |2={{Clade |1=''Bucephala clangula'' |2=''Bucephala islandica''}} }} }} |2={{Clade |label2= |1={{Clade |1=''Mergellus albellus'' |2={{Clade |1=''Mergus serrator'' |2=''Lophodytes cucullatus'' |3={{Clade |1=''Mergus merganser'' |2={{Clade |1=''Mergus octosetaceus'' |2=''Mergus squamatus'' }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

==References== {{Commons|Merginae}} {{Reflist}} {{refbegin}} * [http://seaducks.org/ SeaDucks.org - Science and Management Reference] {{Refend}}

Category:Anatinae