In organisms such as fish and reptiles where the neural crest produces more than one type of pigment cell, the existence of a lineage-restricted precursor of all pigment cell types has been speculated upon but not conclusively demonstrated. In zebrafish, null mutations in the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) ortholog mitfa lack all neural crest-derived melanocytes but retain the other two neural crest pigment cell types, xanthophores and iridophores. In fact, mitfa mutants display an increased number of iridophores compared to wild-type, suggestive of a possible cell fate switch, and cell lineage experiments indicate the existence of a bipotent iridophore/melanocyte precursor. We have begun to examine another member of the zebrafish MITF family, tfec, which is expressed in premigratory and migrating neural crest cells and later in differentiating iridophores. Knockdown of tfec with antisense morpholino oligonucleotides, or by a CRISPR/Cas9 approach indicates that tfec is necessary for the development of iridophores. Intriguingly, knockdown of tfec in mitfa mutant embryos additionally eliminates the third pigment cell type, xanthophores. These data indicate that all three pigment cell lineages in zebrafish are dependent upon one or a combination of MITF family proteins, and suggest that perhaps the choice between these cell fates may depend in part on their relative levels. Moreover, they provide genetic evidence for a distinct pan-pigment precursor in the hierarchy of zebrafish neural crest cell fate diversification.