Williams's Blenny

This species is distinguished by the following set of characters: orbital cirrus present; belly scaled; trunk pale to tan (dark orange/tan to bright orange in life), without distinct bars or other markings; lips without conspicuous white spotting, distinct banding, or dark bars—usually with lightly scattered melanophores in preserved specimens; total dorsal elements 27; total vertebrae usually 32; dorsal spines + anal soft rays + vertebrae modally 75 (Ref. 86414).

Dorsal spines (total): 19 - 20; Dorsal soft rays (total): 7 - 8; Analspines: 2; Analsoft rays: 16 - 17; Vertebrae: 31 - 32

Starksia williamsi, the Williams's blenny is a species of labrisomid blenny known only from the Saba Bank in the Netherlands Antilles where it occurs at depths of from 15 to 28 m (49 to 92 ft). It was previously known as Starksia lepicoelia, and is also closely related to Starksia weigti and Starksia robertsoni. It was named after Jeffrey T. Williams, a scientist from Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History known for his work on Starksia. This species can reach a length of 2.1 cm (0.83 in). The specific name honours the ichthyologist Jeffrey T. Williams of the National Museum of Natural History who has worked extensively on the blenniiform fishes.

SeeTable 2. Dorsal spines XIX–XX, rarely XX (XIX in holotype); segmented dorsal rays 7–8, usually 8 (8); total dorsal elements (27); anal spines II; segmented anal rays 16–17, rarely 17 (16); dorsal segmented caudal-fin rays (7); ventral segmented caudal-fin rays (6); dorsal procurrent caudal-fin rays bimodal at 5–6 (6); ventral procurrent caudal-fin rays 5–6, rarely 6 (6); segmented pelvic-fin rays 2; pectoral-fin rays 11–13, usually 13 (13); vertebrae 9–10+22= 31–32, rarely 31 (10+22=32); usually one pair of infraorbital pores at 3 o’clock (one specimen with all infraorbital pores unpaired); orbital cirri present; nape cirri present; anterior nostril cirri present; belly and pectoral-fin base completely scaled. Specimens examined ranging from 18.5 mm to 22.5 mm SL; HL 34–38% SL; male genital-papilla length between two-thirds and three-fourths length of first anal spine, papilla 1.0–1.25 mm and free from spine.

Known only from Saba Bank, Netherland Antilles.