A total of 227 fish species, representing 113 families, are recorded from the Chatham Islands area (c. 860 km east of New Zealand): 148 are first records for the area and two,Scopelarchoides krefftiJohnson (Scopelarchidae) andOneirodes whitleyiBertelsen & Pietsch (Oneirodidae), are first records for New Zealand. Forty‐two species are identified from a single commercial trawling operation off the Chatham Islands; 13 of these species include juveniles. Notes are given on taxonomy, nomenclature, and distribution for selected fishes. Major conclusions reached are: some prominent New Zealand species are notably absent from the Chathams list, but many more fish species remain to be collected from the area; no endemic species are recognised; the observed abundance of juvenile fishes supports the hypothesis of larval transport from New Zealand to the Chathams by ocean currents; the main affinity of the fish fauna is with widespread and central New Zealand waters; small northern and southern elements present do not differ significantly in size or composition from northern and southern elements present in central New Zealand waters; and the fish fauna probably originated relatively recently from mainland NewZealandwaters.