SelectedWorks - Charles Messing

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Selected Works of Charles Messing

Professor Emeritus

Charles G. Messing is Professor Emeritus of Marine Science at Nova Southeastern University. His research centers on the evolution, taxonomy and ecology of living crinoids (sea lilies and featherstars) and on the ecology of deep-sea coral communities and rocky-substrate habitats. He has also been involved in assessment of both shallow and deep-water habitats for proposed fuel pipelines, fiber-optic cables, artificial reefs, and beach renourishment. Charles has led 14 deep-sea submersible expeditions funded by NSF and NOAA, and led or participated in over 30 other research and educational expeditions as far afield as Papua New Guinea and the Bahamas. He has written or co-authored 65 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and has 48 years’ experience as a scientific illustrator. Currently, he is also a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution and at Scripps Institute of Oceanography and has been a repeated Visiting Scientist at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. He has also written or hosted several science educational television programs. More at https://www.charlesmessing.com

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About Charles Messing

Charles G. Messing is Professor Emeritus of Marine Science at Nova Southeastern University. His research centers on the evolution, taxonomy and ecology of living crinoids (sea lilies and featherstars) and on the ecology of deep-sea coral communities and rocky-substrate habitats. He has also been involved in assessment of both shallow and deep-water habitats for proposed fuel pipelines, fiber-optic cables, artificial reefs, and beach renourishment. Charles has led 14 deep-sea submersible expeditions funded by NSF and NOAA, and led or participated in over 30 other research and educational expeditions as far afield as Papua New Guinea and the Bahamas. He has written or co-authored 65 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles and has 48 years’ experience as a scientific illustrator. Currently, he is also a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution and at Scripps Institute of Oceanography and has been a repeated Visiting Scientist at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. He has also written or hosted several science educational television programs. More at https://www.charlesmessing.com

Articles (62)

Megafauna of the German exploration licence area for seafloor massive sulphides along the Central and South East Indian Ridge (Indian Ocean) (Klaas Gerdes, Terue Cristina Kihara, Pedro Martínez Arbizu, et al.) Biodiversity Data Journal (2021)

Background The growing interest in mineral resources of the deep sea, such as seafloor massive sulphide deposits, has led to an increasing number of exploration licences issued by the International Seabed Authority. In the Indian ...

Regionalization of benthic hard-bottom communities across the Pourtalès Terrace, Florida (Brian K. Walker, Charles G. Messing, Jana Ash, et al.) Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers (2021)

The Pourtalès Terrace is an exposed hard-bottom platform located south of the Florida Keys in 200–450 m depth with a diverse deep-sea coral ecosystem dominated by stylasterid hydrocorals, octocorals, and sponges that supports recreational and ...

Assessing the taxonomy of Heterometra-like feather stars (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Himerometroidea) based on morphology and molecular data (Sze Hui Foo, Kristian H Taylor, Charles G. Messing, et al.) Systematics and Biodiversity (2021)

The taxonomic classification of feather stars (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) has been unstable due to the extensive use of environmentally and ontogenetically variable morphological characters for diagnosing taxa. Furthermore, crinoids remain poorly studied even in some of ...

The Shallow-Water Crinoid Fauna of Lakshadweep Atolls, North-Western Indian Ocean (B. Mohammednowshad, K. K. Idreesbabu, Usha V. Parameswaran, et al.) Zootaxa (2020)

A biodiversity survey carried out from 2016 to 2018 by the Department of Science and Technology in the Lakshadweep Atolls, India, recorded six species of shallow-water feather stars new to the archipelago (Comanthus wahlbergii, Comaster ...

Erratum: CHARLES G. MESSING (2020) A Revision of the Unusual Feather Star Genus Atopocrinus with a Description of a New Species (Echinodermata: Crinoidea). Zootaxa, 4731: 471–491. (Charles G. Messing) Zootaxa (2020)

A Revision of the Unusual Feather Star Genus Atopocrinus with a Description of a New Species (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) (Charles Messing) Zootaxa (2020)

Atopocrinus ojii new species, is described from deep water off Japan. The genus was previously monotypic and known only from the holotype of A. sibogae A. H. Clark, 1912, from Indonesia. Examination of all known ...

Characterization and Mapping of a Deep-Sea Sponge Ground on the Tropic Seamount (Northeast Tropical Atlantic): Implications for Spatial Management in the High Seas (Berta Ramiro Sanchez, Jose Manuel Gonzalez Irusta, Lea-Anne Henry, et al.) Frontiers in Marine Science (2019)

Ferromanganese crusts occurring on seamounts are a potential resource for rare earth elements that are critical for low-carbon technologies. Seamounts, however, host vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs), which means that spatial management is needed to address ...

Actinometra blakei Hartlaub, 1912: Resurrected and Re-assigned (Charles Messing) Swiss Journal of Palaeontology (2018)

Actinometra blakei, originally described from a single specimen, was subsequently placed in synonymy, and has not been mentioned in print since 1931. This re-description was prompted by the collection of three new specimens that fit ...

Decapod Diversity Associated with Deep-Sea Octocorals in the Gulf of Mexico (Heather Bracken-Grissom, Edith A. Widder, Sonke Johnsen, et al.) Crustaceana (2018)

Revising Mariametridae: the genera Dichrometra, Lamprometra, and Liparometra (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) (Kristian H. Taylor, Greg W. Rouse and Charles Messing) Systematics and Biodiversity (2017)

The featherstar genera, Dichrometra A.H. Clark, 1909a, Lamprometra A.H. Clark, 1913, and Liparometra A.H. Clark, 1913 (Comatulida: Mariametridae), are currently diagnosed only on the basis of the relative lengths of their proximal three pairs of ...

Stalked Crinoids Collected off California with Descriptions of Three New Genera and Two New Species of Hyocrinidae (Echinodermata) (Michel Roux and Charles Messing) Pacific Science (2017)

Five species of stalked crinoids collected at depths from 1,693 to 4,135 m off the California coast, chiefly on seamounts, are described. Four were photographed in situ and collected during Monterey Bay Aquarium and Research ...

Systematics of Himerometra (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Himerometridae) based on morphology and molecular data (Kristian Taylor, Greg W. Rouse and Charles Messing) Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (2017)

One of the most common genera of feather stars found on tropical Indo-western Pacific reefs, Himerometra A.H.Clark, 1907, has previously included six accepted species, distinguished chiefly by variations in the enlarged proximal pinnules. This study ...

The Genera and Species of Comatulidae (Comatulida: Crinoidea): Taxonomic Revisions and a Molecular and Morphological Guide (Mindi M. Summers, Charles Messing and Greg W. Rouse) Zootaxa (2017)

We provide a guide for identification of Comatulidae, a family of crinoid echinoderms, incorporating morphological and molecular evidence. A non-dichotomous key for all genera is included, as well as photographs of species most likely to ...

Distribution and Habitat Use of the Golden Crab Chaceon fenneri off Eastern Florida Based on In Situ Submersible and ROV Observations and Potential for Impacts to Deep Water Coral/Sponge Habitat (John Reed, Stephanie Farrington, Charles Messing, et al.) Gulf and Caribbean Research (2017)

This study documents the distribution and habitat preferences of the golden crab, a commercially fished species, in relation to deep-sea coral/sponge ecosystems (DSCEs) at 200-900 m depths off eastern Florida. A total of 386 h ...

Extant Crinoidea (Echinodermata) of Singapore (Charles Messing and Teresa S. Tay) Raffles Bulletin of Zoology (2016)

The crinoid fauna of Singaporean waters now includes approximately 39 nominal species belonging to six families, all in Order Comatulida. Seventeen of the 22 species collected during the Singapore Strait Biodiversity Workshop (May-June 2013) were ...

Growth, Injury, and Population Dynamics in the Extant Cyrtocrinid Holopus mikihe (Crinoidea, Echinodermata) near Roatan, Honduras (V. J. Syverson, Charles G. Messing, Karl Stanley, et al.) Bulletin of Marine Science (2015)

The crinoid order Cyrtocrinida is known mainly from Mesozoic fossils; its few surviving members, all from bathyal environments, are among the most peculiar living crinoids. Cyrtocrinids attributed to Holopus mikihe Donovan and Pawson, 2008, have ...

Phylogeny of Comatulidae (Echinodermata: Crinoidea: Comatulida): A New Classification and an Assessment of Morphological Characters for Crinoid Taxonomy (Mindi M. Summers, Charles G. Messing and Greg W. Rouse) Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2014)

Comatulidae Fleming, 1828 (previously, and incorrectly, Comasteridae A.H. Clark, 1908a), is a group of feather star crinoids currently divided into four accepted subfamilies, 21 genera and approximately 95 nominal species. Comatulidae is the most commonly-encountered ...

The Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA): Developing Community Resources to Study Diverse Invertebrate Genomes (GIGA Community of Scientists, Jose V Lopez, Stephen J. O'Brien, et al.) Journal of Heredity (2014)

Over 95% of all metazoan (animal) species comprise the “invertebrates,” but very few genomes from these organisms have been sequenced. We have, therefore, formed a “Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance” (GIGA). Our intent is to build ...

The First In Situ Habitat Observations and Images of the Caribbean Roughshark, Oxynotus caribbaeus Cervigon, 1961 (Squaliformes: Oxynotidae) (Charles G. Messing, Karl Stanley, John K. Reed, et al.) Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (2013)

In situ observations and photographs of the Caribbean roughshark, Oxynotus caribbaeus Cervigón, 1961, are reported for the first time from four widely separated localities around the tropical western Atlantic, including multiple records over an 8-yr ...

A Revision of the Genus Atelecrinus PH Carpenter (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) (Charles G. Messing) Zootaxa (2013)

The unusual bathyal comatulid crinoid genus Atelecrinus is widespread in the Atlantic and tropical Pacific Oceans and currently includes three recognized species. A re-assessment based on examination of new and existing specimens requires establishment of ...

A New List of Cuban Crinoids (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) (Ruber Rodriguez-Barreras and Charles G. Messing) Caribbean Journal of Science (2013)

This review is based on the most recent taxonomic classification of extant Cuban Crinoidea. Existing material in natural history collections in Cuba was analyzed in detail and accurately reflects species presence. The crinoid literature was ...

Fixed, Free, and Fixed: The Fickle Phylogeny of Extant Crinoidea (Echinodermata) and Their Permian-Triassic Origin (Greg W. Rouse, Lars S. Jermiin, Nerida G. Wilson, et al.) Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2013)

Although the status of Crinoidea (sea lilies and featherstars) as sister group to all other living echinoderms is well-established, relationships among crinoids, particularly extant forms, are debated. All living species are currently placed in Articulata, ...

Habitat Characterization, Distribution, and Areal Extent of Deep-sea Coral Ecosystems off Florida, Southeastern U.S.A. (John K. Reed, Charles G. Messing, Brian K. Walker, et al.) Caribbean Journal of Science (2013)

The deep-sea (200-1000 m) seafloor off the southeastern U.S. has a variety of extensive deep-sea coral ecosystem (DSCE) habitats including: deep-water coral mounds; various hard-bottom habitats off Florida including the Miami Terrace, Pourtales Terrace, and ...

The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity (Ward Appeltans, Shane T. Ahyong, Gary Anderson, et al.) Current Biology (2012)

Background: The question of how many marine species exist is important because it provides a metric for how much we do and do not know about life in the oceans. We have compiled the first ...

Light and Vision in the Deep-Sea Benthos: I. Bioluminescence at 500-1000 m Depth in the Bahamian Islands (Sönke Johnsen, Tamara M. Frank, Steven H.D. Haddock, et al.) Journal of Experimental Biology (2012)

Bioluminescence is common and well studied in mesopelagic species. However, the extent of bioluminescence in benthic sites of similar depths is far less studied, although the relatively large eyes of benthic fish, crustaceans and cephalopods ...