In English the term actually can be used to mean a leopard, either spotted or black, but it has come to be almost exclusively applied to the black or melanistic variety. This latter is not a separate species.
In the United States, the term has also come to be applied to the puma, but this, to avoid confusion, is better avoided. The puma is also known by the similar term of painter, which I take to be originally a mispronunciation of panther. Black pumas may occur occasionally, but, if they do, they seem very rare. The puma is known by a variety of other names, including cougar, catamount, catamountain, deer tiger, mountain lion. These are all the same animal.
The jaguar is another animal altogether. You can find both black and spotted jaguats, but the former are not black panthers.
Some of the American reports of black panthers may refer to something different altogether. On totem poles in British Columbia there is depicted a black feline animal called a how-how. The First Nations say it is an actual animal, distinct from the puma. Perhaps
North America has its own species of black cat.
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