The dominant bathypelagic fishes are small bristlemouth and anglerfish; fangtooth, viperfish, daggertooth and barracudina are also common. These fishes are small, many about 10 cm long, and not many longer than 25 cm. They spend most of their time waiting patiently in the water column for prey to appear or to be lured by their phosphors. What little energy is available in the bathypelagic zone filters from above in the form of detritus, faecal material, and the occasional invertebrate or mesopelagic fish. About 20 percent of the food that has its origins in the epipelagic zone falls down to the mesopelagic zone, but only about 5 percent filters down to the bathypelagic zone.Ryan P "Deep-sea creatures: The bathypelagic zone" Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 21 September 2007.
