以下是库拉科海水族馆和变电站库拉科岛的居民海洋生物学家乔·奥利弗（Joe Oliver）的来宾贡献。
As an aquarist (hobbyist or professional) there is a huge array of fishes available as possible options when it comes to stocking your system. They may be as lowly as a $5 damselfish, or prices can soar for super rare specimens like a platinum Asian arowana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum），最高可达40万美元。尽管我们大多数人都在寻找介于两者之间的东西，但有大量的“稀有”和“深水”鱼类为糖果鲈鱼售价1,000美元（Liopropoma carmabi) to $10,000 for a Bladefin Basslet (Jeboehlkia gladifer）。
这仍然超出了普通水族馆的价格范围，并且由于它们需要更冷的水和较低的照明，因此倾向于将这些鱼类推向专业市场。尽管这些鱼类中的许多人可以适应热带水域并在普通的礁石系统中蓬勃发展，但大多数是微妙的，或者或专家可能不会与传统系统相处的专家。
许多深水鱼类的价格不一定是由于它们在野外的稀有性，而是由于与收集这些鱼类相关的技术专长和困难。这些鱼类大多数居住在100m以下（330英尺）以下，远远超出了正常的水肺潜水员的范围。一个人需要大量的技术潜水设备，长时间的减压和几种安全预防措施，才能深入研究这些鱼类，更不用说收集它们了。
由于海洋技术的进步以及与处理，加工和适应这些特殊鱼类相关的系统，近年来，深水鱼类在水族馆贸易中变得越来越多。此过程仅在全球范围内的少数地方完成，涉及技术潜水，重烧呼吸或潜水操作，因此可以将这些深海宝石带到光线下。
In the following videos you can see some of what goes into the collecting and processing of deep water fishes along with a glimpse into their habitat. These videos take place on the small Caribbean island of Curacao, located ~60 miles North of Venezuela, which is home to many endemic deep water species that have been introduced into the aquarium trade. The Curasub, which operates from变电站库拉科，是少数能够收集这些鱼类的潜水车辆之一，目前是加勒比海运营中这种性质的唯一潜水。
In this video you get a virtual tour of what it is like to put the Curasub in the water and ride along for a deep sea immersion. You follow along as the submarine leaves its basin and ventures off into the deep for a scenic tour of the underwater world.
This video covers the handling and processing of deep water fishes that have been collected by the Curasub. You will follow along with two divers as they leave out from shore and drop down to 35m to rendezvous with the submarine and process the collected specimens. You can see several popular deep water rarities like: Golden Bass (Liopropoma abberans), Red Hogfish (Decodon puellaris), Candy Bass (Liopropoma carmabi), Spanish Flag (Gonioplectrus hispanus), and a few others being cupped for the decompression process. The video also contains a brief description of the decompression process and how these fishes make their way to the surface.
As you can see in the videos there is quite an operation necessary to safely bring these diamonds of the deep to the surface and into aquarium world. The Curasub has proven a pivotal tool for the safe collection and research on deep water fishes, reefs, and ecology around the island of Curacao. Without tools like the Curasub it would be extremely difficult to see many of these fishes and almost impossible to safely bring them to the surface.
但是，库拉科（Curacao）的作用不仅仅是收集鱼类。他们还与史密森尼机构这样的合作伙伴运作，以便对这些深礁生态系统进行研究。有关更多信息，您可以阅读有关史密森尼深礁观测项目（降低）。尽管价格标签使大多数业余爱好者都无法获得这些鱼类之一，但我们仍然可以流口水和梦想，对吗？
For more about the Curasub and some of the fishes it has produced you can check out the following Reef Builders articles:
