The reed cormorant was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[2] Gmelin based his description on the "African shag" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds.

It has a longish tail, a short head crest and a red or yellow face patch.

It prefers small slow-moving fish, and those with long and tapering shapes, such as mormyrids, catfishes, and cichlids.

It will less frequently eat soles (which can be important in its diet locally), frogs, aquatic invertebrates, and small birds.