Abstract
About 20 species of fishes live in the vacinity of the Galapagos Rift thermal springs at depths of about 2,400 m at about 0°48′N, 86°08′W. Records are based on sightings from a manned submersible, time-lapse photographs near a baited trap, and actual captures. The five or six most abundant species were Coryphaenoides bulbiceps, Bassozetus, one or two zoarcids, Antimora, and Spectrunculus. Only a single species, an undescribed bythitid, possibly in the genus Diplacanthopoma, lives in the vents. The thermal vent fish fauna is about as diverse as that of the flat bottom near Hudson Canyon at comparable depths. Relatively few fishes were attracted to bait. Endemism seems lower among the fishes than invertebrates. Species diversity and population density of fishes overall decrease closer to the vents. Opposite trends appear to characterize invertebrates.
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