Turdus samoensis is recorded on Savai'i and Upolu in Samoa. The 2016 paper used the older name Turdus [poliocephalus] samoensis and discussed evidence for treating it as a distinct species.
The paper describes the bird as sooty black, with yellow legs, an orange bill, and fleshy skin around the eyes rather than a yellow eye-ring.
It was common in Savai'i's highland forest and was recorded in secondary growth on the Mata o le Afi lava flow in June–July 2005. The authors observed one nest on a ledge of volcanic cliff beneath an overhang.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.