Deep-sea ecosystems harbour a high amount of unknown species and echinoderms belong to the most abundant megafaunal taxa encountered in these habitats. In this work we present the echinoderms belonging to the classes Asteroidea, Echinoidea, Ophiuroidea and Crinoidea collected from the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Trench (3498–7254 m) during the AleutBio expedition (SO293) onboard the German vessel RV Sonne. The AleutBio expedition represents a significant addition to the general knowledge on deep-sea echinoderms (holothurians excepted) from the North East Pacific Ocean with 6115 specimens collected, belonging to 39 species within 31 genera, confirmed as distinct genetic entities using a barcoding approach. Several new putative species are discussed together with preliminary biogeographic patterns suggesting a wide distribution for many of the deep-sea echinoderms species. The role of the Aleutian Trench as a biogeographic barrier is unlikely for echinoderms and estimations of its richness are higher than previously thought.
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