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To characterize the species richness, endemism and community structure of benthic macro‐/megafauna in the deep‐sea chemosynthetic ecosystems around the Japanese archipelago and determine the conservation priority for deep‐sea chemosynthetic habitats.

Twenty‐seven methane seeps from the Kuril–Japan Trench, Nankai Trough, Ryukyu Trench and Sagami Bay as well as 15 hydrothermal vents from the Izu–Bonin Arc and Okinawa Trough around the Japanese archipelago.

Species richness and the number of endemic species from 42 vents and seeps were examined using the distributional data of 155 mollusc, annelid and arthropod species. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify groups of sites with similar assemblage composition. Complementarity analysis was performed to determine the minimum number of sites required to conserve at least one population of all …