Phillip Clarence Heemstra (9 December 1941 – 29 August 2019) was an American-South African

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

. He was born in Melrose Park, Illinois, United States as the son of Clarence William Heemstra and his wife, Lydia (born Epcke). He attended school in Ottawa, Illinois, and completed a B.Sc. Zoology in 1963 at the University of Illinois at Urbana, Illinois, as well as his MSc degree (1968) and doctorate (1974) in

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...

at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida. He moved to live in South Africa in 1978. At the time of his death, Heemstra was a curator emeritus of the

South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), is involved in research, education and in applications of its knowledge and research to African fish fauna, for either economic or conservation benefit. The institute originally estab ...

(SAIAB, formerly the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology). He specialized in ichthyology and marine fish taxonomy.

Career

Heemstra was, among other things, a

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize in ...

at the marine laboratory of the U.S. Department of Natural Resources in Florida, and from 1978 to 2001 a curator of fish at J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology in Grahamstown (now the SAIAB). His work included research on systematics, biology (especially reproduction), zoo-geography and marine fish conservation, a survey of the fish diversity of Southern Africa and the western Indian Ocean, and the identification of marine fish for institutions in South Africa and overseas. He has also been a consultant to numerous publications and the author or co-author of several books, including ''Coastal Fishes of Southern Africa''''Coastal Fishes of Southern Africa''. Phil & Elaine Heemstra. 2004. with Elaine Heemstra. He received many honours from various institutions.

Taxon described by him

*See :Taxa named by Phillip C. Heemstra

Memberships

He was a member of, among others, the Zoological Society of Southern Africa, the Ichatology Society of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and the Society of Systematic Biologists.

Taxon named in his honor

*'' Pseudanthias heemstrai'', the orange-headed anthias is named after him. * ''

Upeneus ''Upeneus'' is a genus of goatfishes native to the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, ...

heemstra'' Ublien &

Gouws Gouws is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Johannes Gouws (1919–1944), South African Air Force officer * Liezel Gouws (born 1999), South African Paralympic athlete * Pierre Gouws (born 1960), Zimbabwean cyclist *Rowan Gouws ...

, 2014 (Heemstra goatfish) *''

Cociella ''Cociella'' is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Platycephalidae, the flatheads. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific region. Taxonomy ''Cociella'' was first proposed as a genus in 1940 by the Australian ichthyol ...

heemstrai'' Knapp 1996 *''

Pteropsaron ''Pteropsaron'' is a genus of fish in the family Percophidae. Species There are currently 9 recognized species of this genus: * '' Pteropsaron dabfar'' Iwamoto, 2014 Iwamoto, T. (2014): Two New Hemerocoetine Trichonotidae Fishes (Teleostei, Per ...

heemstrai'' Nelson 1982 *''

Acropoma ''Acropoma'' is a genus of fish in the family Acropomatidae, the temperate ocean-basses or lanternbellies. They are native to the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. They are characterized by a ventral luminous organ that has a luminous gland ...

heemstrai'' Okamoto & Golani 2017 *''

Aseraggodes ''Aseraggodes'' is a genus of soles native to the Indian and Pacific oceans. These small flatfishes are poisonous. Species It is by far the most species rich genus in the family Soleidae, as there currently are 54 recognized species: * '' Asera ...

heemstrai'' Randall & Gon 2006 *''

Neocaristius heemstrai ''Neocaristius heemstrai'' is a species of fish in the family Caristiidae, the manefishes. It is native to the oceans of the southern hemisphere where it is known to occur at depths of from . This species grows to a length of SL. This fish wa ...

'' ((I. A. Trunov, E. I. Kukuev & Parin 2006) *''

Mascarenichthys ''Mascarenichthys'' is a genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of bi ...

heemstrai'' Schwarzhans & Møller 2007 *''

Kenyaconger heemstrai ''Kenyaconger heemstrai'' is a species of eel in the family Congridae. It is the only member of its genus. It is only found in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map ...

'' D. G. Smith & Karmovskaya, 2003

Personal life

Heemstra married Elaine Margaret Grant on 15 March 1991; Elaine has a son, Andrew Grant. Phil and his first wife, Valerie, have two daughters, Lydia and Julia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heemstra, Phil South African ichthyologists 1941 births 2019 deaths People from Melrose Park, Illinois University of Illinois alumni Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science alumni