The white-breasted cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo lucidus) is a subspecies of the widely distributed great cormorant, formerly often considered to be a separate species. Its distinguishing features include a white breast and a preference for freshwater habitats among its subpopulations. The species should not be confused with the smaller and morphologically distinct endemic South Australian black-faced cormorant, which occasionally shares the common name "white-breasted cormorant".

As its name suggests, the 80-to-100 cm-long (31-to-39 in) white-breasted cormorant has a white neck and breast when adult, and the white area tends to increase as the bird becomes more mature, though juveniles have more extensive pale mottling down to the belly. In other respects it is a large cormorant generally resembling the great cormorant.