Structure and diversity of benthic eukaryotic community in the northwest Pacific revealed by environmental DNA metabarcoding

The deep sea harbors high levels of biodiversity controversial to its poor energy input.However, deep-sea benthic diversity especially diversity in the hadal trenches is not well understood. In this study, we explored deep-sea benthic diversity in the northwest Pacific by using eDNA metabarcoding surveys. Benthic communities were characterized for the Okinawa Trough (~1000 m) and the Mariana Trench (~6500 m). Two metabarcoding assays (18 and 28S rRNA genes) that targeted eukaryotic diversity were used.