**4. A Census of B[e]Sgs**

With clearly defined classification characteristics and the proper observational tools at hand, the massive star population within the local Universe can be scanned for suitable B[e]SG candidates. At the moment of writing this review, this is still an ongoing project that requires patience and sufficient telescope time at both optical and infrared facilities. Nevertheless, many new, particularly extragalactic B[e]SG star discoveries were reported in the literature within the past 20 years. The aim of this section is, therefore, to take a closer and critical look at the suggested B[e]SG candidates in order to sort out possible misclassified objects, to check what type of observations are still missing for unambiguous classification of the candidates, and to compile updated lists of confirmed B[e]SGs for the galaxies with a reported B[e]SG population. The starting points for this investigation are the Magellanic Clouds (Section 4.1), moving further out into the Local Group (Section 4.2) and beyond (Section 4.3), before we finally return to the Milky Way (Section 4.4).

<sup>8</sup> One exception to this rule is the LBV star HR Car, which occasionally showed CO band emission related to phases when the star was dimmer [107].

The samples in each galaxy are presented in tables, which follow the same structure. The objects are listed under a homogeneous SIMBAD identifier (if possible) in Column 1, reference(s) for the B[e]SG classification of the stars follow in Column 2. Where available, E(B–V) values and their references are provide in Columns 3 and 4, and the four colors (J–H, H–K, W1–W2, and W2–W4) are given along with their errors in the last four columns. The tables are furthermore organized such that in the top part appear the confirmed B[e]SGs. These are stars that fulfill all classification criteria. In the middle part of each table stars with uncertain or controversial classification are listed with their names in parentheses. These are objects that lack one or more of the classification criteria due to incomplete observational datasets. Objects for which different research teams find controversial results such that clarification is needed are also included here. In the bottom of each table, erroneously classified objects are gathered with their names in italic and within parentheses. These are stars for which observational evidence (e.g., a specific color) excludes them from belonging to the class of B[e]SGs.
