Auka hydrothermal vent field is located at 3650m depth in Pescadero Basin, at the mouth of the Gulf of California. Auka is a sediment hosted hydrothermal vent field, and shares many characteristics with the more well-studied vents at Guaymas Basin, 400 km to the northeast. Analysis of the sediment microbial community at Auka provides insight in the factors shaping microbial community structure at sediments hosted hydrothermal vents.