Abstract
Datasets from deep‐water fisheries abundance surveys on the commercially important species—orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) , smooth oreo (Pseudocyttus maculatus) , and black oreo (Allocyttus niger) —were used to compare fish fauna between seamounts in 10 different parts of the New Zealand region. For five of these areas, fauna was also compared between the seamounts and nearby areas of the relatively flat slope. Dominant species were listed for each area. Diversity was compared between seamount complexes, and between seamount and slope areas. Differences between the species taken in different seamount areas were investigated using similarity analysis. Total species richness was similar in all seamount regions, but mean species richness was found to be much higher in southern areas. Species richness was consistently higher on the relatively flat slope than on seamounts. Five seamount areas south of 41°S were found to have similar fish fauna, as compared with three seamount areas north of 41°S which were different from the southern areas and from each other.