Williams, Jeff
Former Collections Manager of Fishes/Ichthyologist
Main area of interest is in the taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of Indo-Pacific marine fishes.
Geographic Focus
Background And Education
Education And Training
- Ph.D. in Zoology, University of Florida , Zoology 1986
- M.S. in Zoology, University of South Alabama , Biology 1979
- B.S. in Zoology, Florida State University , Biology 1975
Professional Biography
-
Jeffrey T. Williams, Ichthyologist and Collections Manager of Fishes at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution, manages the largest fish collection in the world and conducts research on the biodiversity, systematics, taxonomy and biogeography of fishes, and on the interrelationship between the tectonic history of the Indo-Pacific and the geographic distribution of fishes I have collected and studied marine fishes around the world and am an authority on the cryptic (hidden) fishes, particularly in the Pacific Ocean. He has led or participated on fish collecting expeditions to the Gulf of Mexico, western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Seychelles, Hawaiian Islands, Ryukyu Islands, Philippine Islands, Fiji Islands, Tonga Islands, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Australia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Wallis & Futuna, French Polynesia and Palau. He has been with the NMNH since 1983, where he continues to focus his research on taxonomy of tropical marine fishes from remote and poorly surveyed areas around the world.
Public Biography
-
My research over the past 35 years has primarily focused on the biodiversity, systematics, taxonomy and zoogeography of marine fishes. The excitement of being a scientist in a field of science where new discoveries are common occurrences makes my work truly enjoyable. As a Collections Manager in the Division of Fishes at the National Museum of Natural History, my work often involves traveling to remote parts of the world to collect fish specimens for the national collections using SCUBA, submersible and other fishing methods. The fish collected on these expeditions help to document and add to our knowledge of marine fish biodiversity in the world's seas. I have collected fish from the Gulf of Mexico, western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Seychelles, Hawaiian Islands, Ryukyu Islands, Philippine Islands, Fiji Islands, Tonga Islands, New Caledonia, Loyalty Islands, Australia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Wallis & Futuna, French Polynesia (Mururoa, Moorea, Rapa, Marquesas), and Palau. Each expedition has yielded discoveries of new species that had never been seen before. Most of my work has been in remote parts of the world, often involving days of travel simply to reach these areas. The primitive conditions in these remote areas make the work difficult, but the rewards are the many scientific discoveries that result. I often discover beautifully colored fish species that have never been seen before. Many of my published scientific articles are descriptions of new species I collected and photographed, along with keys to aid the identification of the cryptic shorefishes of the world.
Over the last 8 years I have been working with Mudjie Santos (BFAR-NFRDI) and Kent Carpenter (ODU) on a DNA barcoding project for the US FDA to obtain samples of as many different Philippine commercial market species of fishes as possible. The Project goal is to inventory and collect representative specimens of commercial and similar species from Philippine fish markets at a variety of locations throughout the country. Each specimen is photographed, a tissue sample is taken and preserved, the specimen is tagged with a unique identifying number, and the specimens are preserved and subsequently archived as reference vouchers at the NMNH/SI and the Philippine National Museum of Natural History with a unique link to the CO1 DNA barcode for food safety and biodiversity.
Publications
Selected Publications
-
Article
- Bemis, Katherine E., Girard, Matthew G., Santos, Mudjekeewis D., Carpenter, Kent E., Deeds, Jonathan R., Pitassy, Diane E., Flores, Nicko Amor L., Hunter, Elizabeth S., Driskell, Amy C., Macdonald, Kenneth S., Weigt, Lee A., and Williams, Jeffrey T. 2023. "Biodiversity of Philippine marine fishes: A DNA barcode reference library based on voucher specimens." Scientific Data, 10, (1) 411. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02306-9. 2023
- Arcila, Dahiana, Hughes, Lily C., Melendez-Vazquez, Bruce, Baldwin, Carole C., White, William T., Carpenter, Kent E., Williams, Jeffrey T., Santos, Mudjekeewis D., Pogonoski, John J., Miya, Masaki, Orti, Guillermo, and Betancur-R, Ricardo. 2021. "Testing the Utility of Alternative Metrics of Branch Support to Address the Ancient Evolutionary Radiation of Tunas, Stromateoids, and Allies (Teleostei: Pelagiaria)." Systematic Biology, 70, (6) 1123–1144. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syab018. 2021
- Cirripectes matatakaro, a new species of combtooth blenny from the Central Pacific, illuminates the origins of the Hawaiian fish fauna. PeerJ. 8:Article 8852. 2020
- Description of a new species of the genus Acropoma (Acropomatidae) from the Arafura Sea with a redescription of Acropoma leobergi Prokofiev 2018 and the first record of Acropoma boholensis Yamanoue and Matsuura 2002 from the South China Sea. Ichthyological Research. 67:39-49. 2020
- Delrieu-Trottin, Erwan, Williams, Jeffrey T., Pitassy, Diane, Driskell, Amy, Hubert, Nicolas, Viviani, Jérémie, Cribb, Thomas H., Espiau, Benoit, Galzin, René, Kulbicki, Michel, Lison, de Loma, Meyer, Christopher, Mourier, Johann, Mou-Tham, Gérard, Parravicini, Valeriano, Plantard, Patrick, Sasal, Pierre, Siu, Gilles, Tolou, Nathalie, Veuille, Michel, Weigt, Lee, and Planes, Serge. 2019. "A DNA barcode reference library of French Polynesian shore fishes." Scientific Data, 6, (1) 114. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0123-5. 2019
- Anthias albofasciatus Fowler and Bean, 1930, a junior synonym of Tosana niwae Smith and Pope, 1906 (Teleostei: Serranidae: Anthiadinae). Zootaxa. 4614:566. 2019
- Buchanan, Jack R., Ralph, Gina M., Krupp, Friedhelm, Harwell, Heather, Abdallah, Mohamed, Abdulqader, Ebrahim, Al-Husaini, Mohsen, Bishop, James M., Burt, John A., Choat, John H., Collette, Bruce B., Feary, David A., Hartmann, Stanley A., Iwatsuki, Yukio, Kaymaram, Farhad, Larson, Helen K., Matsuura, Keiichi, Motomura, Hiroyuki, Munroe, Thomas, Russell, Barry, Smith-Vaniz, William, Williams, Jeffrey T., and Carpenter, Kent E. 2019. "Regional extinction risks for marine bony fishes occurring in the Persian/Arabian Gulf." Biological Conservation, 230 10–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.11.027. 2019
- Chelidoperca tosaensis, a new species of perchlet (Serranidae) from Japan and the Philippines, with geographic range extension of C. stella to the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Ichthyological Research. 65:210-230. 2018
- Evidence of cryptic species in the blenniid Cirripectes alboapicalis species complex, with zoogeographic implications for the South Pacific. ZooKeys. 810:127-138. 2018
- Acanthurus Albimento, A New Species Of Surgeonfish (Acanthuriformes: Acanthuridae) From Northeastern Luzon, Philippines, With Comments On Zoogeography. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation. 25:33-46. 2017
- Shore fishes of French Polynesia. Cybium. 41:245-278. 2017
- Pseudogramma polyacantha complex (Serranidae, tribe Grammistini): DNA barcoding results lead to the discovery of three cryptic species, including two new species from French Polynesia. Zootaxa. 4111:246-260. 2016
- Two new pygmygobies (Percomorpha: Gobiidae: Trimma) from French Polynesia. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation. 23:1-11. 2016
- When endemic coral-reef fish species serve as models: endemic mimicry patterns in the Marquesas Islands. Journal of Fish Biology. 89:1834-1838. 2016
- A new fish species of the subfamily Serraninae (Perciformes, Serranidae) from the Philippines. Zootaxa. 3911:287-293. 2015
- Shore fishes of the Marquesas Islands, an updated checklist with new records and new percentage of endemic species. Check List. 11:1758. 2015
- Macropharyngodon pakoko, a new species of wrasse (Teleostei: Labridae) endemic to the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. Zootaxa. 3857:433. 2014
- Deeds, J. R., Handy, S. M., Fry, Jr, F., Granade, H., Williams, Jeffrey T., Powers, M., Shipp, R., and Weigt, Lee A. 2014. "Protocol for Building a Reference Standard Sequence Library." Journal of AOAC International, 97, (6) 1–8. https://doi.org/10.5740/jaoacint.14-111. 2014
- Rocha, L. A., Aleixo, A., Allen, G., Almeda, F., Baldwin, Carole C., Barclay, M. V. L., Bates, J. M., Bauer, A. M., Benzoni, F., Berns, C. M., Berumen, M. L., Blackburn, D. C., Blum, S., Bolanos, F., Bowie, R. C. K., Britz, R., Brown, R. M., Cadena, C. D., Carpenter, K., Ceriaco, L. M., Chakrabarty, P., Chaves, G., Choat, J. H., Clements, K. D., Collette, Bruce B. et al. 2014. "Specimen collection: An essential tool." Science, 344, (6186) 814–815. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.344.6186.814. 2014
- Four new species of dwarfgobies (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Eviota ) from the Austral, Gambier, Marquesas and Society Archipelagos, French Polynesia. Systematics and Biodiversity. 11:363-380. 2013
- Two new fish species of the subfamily Anthiinae (Perciformes, Serranidae) from the Marquesas. Zootaxa. 3647:167. 2013
- A new species of Indo-Pacific fish, Canthigaster criobe, with comments on other Canthigaster (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) at the Gambier Archipelago. Zootaxa. 80-88. 2012
- Hubert, Nicolas, Meyer, Christopher P., Bruggemann, Henrich J., Guérin, Fabien, Komeno, Roberto J. L., Espiau, Benoit, Causse, Romain, Williams, Jeffrey T., and Planes, Serge. 2012. "Cryptic Diversity in Indo-Pacific Coral-Reef Fishes Revealed by DNA-Barcoding Provides New Support to the Centre-of-Overlap Hypothesis." PLoS ONE, 7, (3) 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0028987. 2012
- A new species of blenny, Cirripectes heemstraorum, from Cape Vidal, South Africa (Family Blenniidae). Smithiana Bulletin. 12:3-7. 2010
- Biodiversity Assessment of the Fishes of Saba Bank Atoll, Netherlands Antilles. Plos One. 5:e10676. 2010
- Entomacrodus solus, a new species of blenny (Perciformes, Blenniidae) from the Red Sea. Zootaxa. 64-68. 2010
- Cirripectes viriosus 2009
- Ecsenius dilemma 2009
-
Book
- Linardich, C., Ralph, G., Carpenter, K., Cox, N., Robertson, D. Ross, Harwell, H., Anderson, W., Jr., Acero, A., Barthelat, F., Bouchereau, J. -L, Brown, J. J., Buchanan, J., Buddo, D., Collette, Bruce B., Comeros-Raynal, M., Craig, M., Curtis, M., Defex, T., Dooley, J., Driggers III, W., Elfes Livsey, C., Fraser, T., Grijalba Bendeck, L., Gilmore, R., Jr., Kishore, R. et al. 2017. The Conservation Status of Marine Bony Shorefishes of the Greater Caribbean. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2017.RA.1.en. 2017
- Pippard, H., Ralph, G. M., Harvey, M. S., Carpenter, K. E., Buchanan, J. R., Greenfield, D. W., Harwell, H. D., Larson, H. K., Lawrence, A., Linardich, C., Matsuura, K., Motomura, H., Munroe, T. A., Myers, R. F., Russell, B. C., Smith-Vaniz, W. F., Vié, J. -C, Thaman, R. R., and Williams, J. T. 2017. The conservation status of marine biodiversity in the Pacific Islands of Oceania. International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 2017
- Nieto, Ana, Ralph, Gina M., Comeros-Raynal, Mia, Kemp, James, García Criado, Mariana, Allen, David J., Dulvy, Nicholas K., Walls, Rachel H. L., Russell, Barry, Pollard, David, García, Silvia, Craig, Matthew, Collette, Bruce B., Pollom, Riley, Biscoito, Manuel, Chao, Ning Labbish, Abella, Alvaro, Afonso, Pedro, Álvarez, Helena, Carpenter, Kent E., Clò, Simona, Cook, Robin, Costa, Maria José, Delgado, João, Dureuil, Manuel et al. 2015. European Red List of Marine Fishes. European Union. https://doi.org/10.2779/082723. 2015
-
Chapter
- Photography changes our knowledge of new species. 102-104. 2012
- Ecsenius kurti. 44-45. 2009
- Istiblennius colei. 52-53. 2009
- Plagiotremus isodon. 56-57. 2009
-
Dataset
- Bemis, Katherine E., Girard, Matthew G., Santos, Mudjekeewis D., Carpenter, Kent E., Deeds, Jonathan R., Pitassy, Diane E., Flores, Nicko Amor L., Hunter, Elizabeth Sage, Driskell, Amy C., Macdonald,Kenneth S., III, Weigt, Lee A., and Williams, Jeffrey T. 2023. [Dataset] Color field photographs of voucher specimens. Distributed by Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. https://doi.org/10.25573/DATA.23185373.V1. 2023
- Bemis, Katherine E., Girard, Matthew G., Santos, Mudjekeewis D., Carpenter, Kent E., Deeds, Jonathan R., Pitassy, Diane E., Flores, Nicko Amor L., Hunter, Elizabeth Sage, Driskell, Amy C., Macdonald,Kenneth S., III, Weigt, Lee A., and Williams, Jeffrey T. 2023. [Dataset] DNA sequences. Distributed by Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. https://doi.org/10.25573/DATA.23284901.V1. 2023
-
Information Content Entity
- Orrell, Thomas M., Hollowell, Thomas H., Tuccinardi, Chris, Reed, Karen, Bird, Jessica, Williams, Jeffrey T., Tighe, Kenneth A., Schmidt, Brian K., and Ludwig, Craig. 2018. "NMNH Extant Specimen Records." https://doi.org/10.15468/hnhrg3. 2018
Affiliation
Contact
Location
- National Museum of Natural History Academic Department