Austin Beatty Williams (October 17, 1919 – October 27, 1999) was an American

carcinologist This is a list of notable carcinologists. A carcinologist is a scientist who studies crustaceans or is otherwise involved in carcinology (the science of crustaceans). References

{{Reflist, 24em Carcinologists, . Lists of zoologists, Carcino ...

, "the acknowledged expert on and leader in studies of the systematics of eastern American decapod crustaceans".

Biography

Austin B. Williams was born on October 17, 1919, in

Plattsburg, Missouri Plattsburg is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area in the western part of the state, within the United States. It developed along the Little Platte River. As of the 2020 ce ...

, the eldest of three children to Oliver Perry Williams and Lucy Sell. He was educated at

McPherson College McPherson College is a private college associated with the Church of the Brethren and located in McPherson, Kansas, United States. It was chartered in 1887 and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. History During their 1887 annual m ...

and the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, gaining his Ph.D. in 1951. He then worked at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

Institute of Fisheries Research, the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, before gaining a position in the

systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...

laboratory of the

National Marine Fisheries Service The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, is a United States federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that is responsible for the ste ...

, based at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

. He was married and had one son and two grandchildren. He died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church City is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is ...

, on October 27, 1999.

Work

Williams' first

scientific paper Scientific literature encompasses a vast body of academic papers that spans various disciplines within the natural and social sciences. It primarily consists of academic papers that present original empirical research and theoretical ...

, published in 1952, described six new species of freshwater

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

from the

Ozark Mountains The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

; he continued to publish until his death in 1999, accruing 118 publications in that time. His most important works include

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

s on the marine decapod crustaceans of the Carolinas, on the decapods of the Atlantic coast of the United States, and on the

lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...

s of the world's oceans. He won several awards, including the Crustacean Society's ''Excellence in Research Award'' and the American Fisheries Society's ''Oscar Elton Sette Award''.

Taxa

Austin B. Williams described or co-described 101 new taxa of

decapod crustaceans The Decapoda or decapods, from Ancient Greek δεκάς (''dekás''), meaning "ten", and πούς (''poús''), meaning "foot", is a large order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, and includes crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, and pr ...

, from the

rank A rank is a position in a hierarchy. It can be formally recognized—for example, cardinal, chief executive officer, general, professor—or unofficial. People Formal ranks * Academic rank * Corporate title * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy ...

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

(obelisks mark fossil taxa): ;

Caridea The Caridea, commonly known as caridean shrimp or true shrimp, from the Greek word καρίς, καρίδος (karís, karídos, “shrimp”), are an infraorder of shrimp within the order Decapoda. This infraorder contains all species of true sh ...

*'' Alvinocaris'' Williams & Chace, 1982 *'' Alvinocaris lusca'' Williams & Chace, 1982 *'' Alvinocaris markensis'' Williams, 1988 *'' Alvinocaris muricola'' Williams, 1988 *'' Alvinocaris stactophila'' Williams, 1988 *'' Leptalpheus'' Williams, 1965 *''

Leptalpheus forceps ''Leptalpheus'' is a genus of shrimp in the family Alpheidae, containing the following species: *'' Leptalpheus axianassae'' *'' Leptalpheus azuero'' *'' Leptalpheus bicristatus'' *'' Leptalpheus canterakintzi'' *'' Leptalpheus corderoae'' ...

'' Williams, 1965 *'' Ogyrides hayi'' Williams, 1981 *'' Ogyrides limicola'' Williams, 1955 *'' Opaepele'' Williams & Dobbs, 1995 *'' Opaepele loihi'' Williams & Dobbs, 1995 *'' Rimicaris'' Williams & Rona, 1986 *'' Rimicaris chacei'' Williams & Rona, 1986 *''

Rimicaris exoculata ''Rimicaris exoculata'', commonly known as the 'blind shrimp', is a species of shrimp. It thrives on active hydrothermal edifices at deep-sea vents of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This species belongs to the Alvinocarididae family of shrimp, named a ...

'' Williams & Rona, 1986 ;

Astacidea Astacidea is an infraorder of decapod crustaceans including lobsters (but not "lobsters" such as the spiny lobster etc.), crayfish, and their close relatives. Description The Astacidea are distinguished from most other decapods by the presence ...

*''

Homarinus The Cape lobster, ''Homarinus capensis'', is a species of small lobster that lives off the coast of South Africa, from Dassen Island to Haga Haga. Only a few dozen specimens are known, mostly regurgitated by reef-dwelling fish. It lives in rock ...

'' Kornfield, Williams & Steneck, 1995 *'' Orconectes eupunctus'' Williams, 1952 *'' Orconectes meeki brevis'' Williams, 1952 *'' Orconectes nana'' Williams, 1952 *'' Orconectes nana marcus'' Williams, 1952 *'' Orconectes neglectus chaenodactylus'' Williams, 1952 *'' Orconectes ozarkae'' Williams, 1952 ;

Axiidea Axiidea is an infraorder of decapod crustaceans. They are colloquially known as mud shrimp, ghost shrimp, or burrowing shrimp; however, these decapods are only distantly related to true shrimp. Axiidea and Gebiidea are divergent infraorders of t ...

*†'' Axiopsis eximia'' Kensley & Williams, 1990 *'' Calocaris jenneri'' Williams, 1974 *'' Calocaris oxypleura'' Williams, 1974 ;

Gebiidea Gebiidea is an infraorder of Decapoda, decapod crustaceans. Gebiidea and Axiidea are divergent infraoders of the former infraorder Thalassinidea. These infraorders have converged Ecology, ecologically and Morphology (biology), morphologically as ...

*'' Aethogebia'' Williams, 1993 *'' Aethogebia gorei'' Williams, 1993 *'' Pomatogebia'' Williams & Ngoc-Ho, 1990 *'' Upogebia acanthops'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia aestuari'' Williams, 1993 *'' Upogebia aquilina'' Williams, 1993 *'' Upogebia baldwini'' Williams, 1997 *'' Upogebia bermudensis'' Williams, 1993 *'' Upogebia burkenroadi'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia careospina'' Williams, 1993 *'' Upogebia casis'' Williams, 1993 *'' Upogebia cocosia'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia coralliflora'' Williams & Scott, 1989 *'' Upogebia cortesi'' Williams, 2000 *'' Upogebia dawsoni'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia felderi'' Williams, 1993 *'' Upogebia galapagensis'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia inomissa'' Williams, 1993 *'' Upogebia jonesi'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia lepta'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia maccraryae'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia macginitieorum'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia molipollex'' Williams, 1993 *'' Upogebia omissago'' Williams, 1993 *'' Upogebia onychion'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia paraffinis'' Williams, 1993 *'' Upogebia pillsbury'' Williams, 1993 *'' Upogebia ramphula'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia schmitti'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia spinistipula'' Williams & Heard, 1991 *'' Upogebia synagelas'' Williams, 1987 *'' Upogebia tenuipollex'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia thistlei'' Williams, 1986 *'' Upogebia toralae'' Williams & Hernández-Aguilera, 1998 *'' Upogebia vargasae'' Williams, 1997 *'' Upogebia veleronis'' Williams, 1986 ;

Anomura Anomura (sometimes Anomala) is a group of decapod crustaceans, including hermit crabs and others. Although the names of many anomurans include the word ''crab'', all true crabs are in the sister group to the Anomura, the Brachyura (the two groups ...

*'' Munidopsis alvisca'' Williams, 1998 *'' Munidopsis glabra'' Pequegnat & Williams, 1995 *'' Munidopsis granosicorium'' Williams & Baba, 1990 *'' Munidopsis lentigo'' Williams & Van Dover, 1983 *'' Munidopsis lignaria'' Williams & Baba, 1990 *'' Munidopsis marianica'' Williams & Baba, 1990 *'' Shinkaia'' Baba & Williams, 1998 *'' Shinkaia crosnieri'' Baba & Williams, 1998 *'' Uroptychus edisoniscus'' Baba & Williams, 1998 ; Brachyura *''

Allactaea ''Allactaea lithostrota'' is a species of crabs in the family Xanthidae Xanthidae is a family (biology), family of crabs known as gorilla crabs, mud crabs, pebble crabs or rubble crabs. Xanthid crabs are often brightly coloured and are highly ...

'' Williams, 1974 *'' Allactaea lithorostrata'' Williams, 1974 *'' Bothromaia'' Williams & Moffit, 1991 *'' Bothromaia griffini'' Williams & Moffit, 1991 *

Bythograeoidea The Bythograeidae are a small family of blind crabs which live around hydrothermal vents. The family contains 16 species in six genera. Their relationships to other crabs are unclear. They are believed to eat bacteria and other vent organisms. By ...

Williams, 1980 * Bythograeidae Williams, 1980 *'' Bythograea'' Williams, 1980 *'' Bythograea mesatlantica'' Williams, 1988 *'' Bythograea thermydon'' Williams, 1980 *''

Callinectes similis ''Callinectes similis'', sometimes called the lesser blue crab or dwarf crab, is a West Atlantic species of blue crab. It was described by Austin B. Williams in 1966. Description ''Callinectes similis'' is a good swimmer, and its last pereiop ...

'' Williams, 1966 *'' Cyclozodion'' Williams & Child, 1989 *'' Cyclozodion tuberatum'' Williams & Child, 1989 *'' Epilobocera wetherbeei'' Rondríguez & Williams, 1995 *'' Eplumula'' Williams, 1982 *†'' Heus'' Bishop & Williams, 2000 *†'' Heus forsteri'' Bishop & Williams, 2000 *'' Hypsophrys noar'' Williams, 1974 *'' Latreillia manningi'' Williams, 1982 *'' Latreillia metanesa'' Williams, 1982 *'' Menippe adina'' Williams & Felder, 1986 * Mimilambridae Williams, 1979 *'' Mimilambrus'' Williams, 1979 *'' Mimilambrus wileyi'' Williams, 1979 *†'' Necrocarcinus olsonorum'' Bishop & Williams, 1991 *'' Ovalipes stephensoni'' Williams, 1976 *'' Panopeus austrobesus'' Williams, 1984 *'' Panopeus margentus'' Williams & Boschi, 1990 *'' Panopeus meridionalis'' Williams, 1984 *'' Plagiophthalmus bjorki'' Bishop & Williams, 2000 *'' Raninella manningi'' Bishop & Williams, 2000 *'' Rochinia decipiata'' Williams & Eldgredge, 1994 *'' Stilbomastax'' Williams, Shaw & Hopkins, 1977 One genus and several species were named by other scientists in honor of Williams. They include: *'' Plesionika williamsi'' Forest, 1974 – a species of deep-water shrimp *'' Agostocaris williamsi'' Hart & Manning, 1986 – a species of shrimp from the Caribbean Sea *'' Austinograea williamsi'' Hessler & Martin, 1989 – a crab from

hydrothermal vent Hydrothermal vents are fissures on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hot ...

s; both the genus and the

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

commemorate Williams

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Austin B. American carcinologists 1919 births 1999 deaths National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration personnel People from Plattsburg, Missouri McPherson College alumni University of Kansas alumni University of Illinois faculty University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Deaths from cancer in Virginia 20th-century American zoologists