Abstract: In June 15-25, 2003, the first sluice discharge duration of the Three Gorges Dam, water samples were taken from a grid of survey stations around the Yangtze River Estuary and its adjacent waters to analyze the characteristics of phytoplankton assemblages. In the survey area, the major phytoplankton groups were diatoms and dinoflagellates, and a few species belonging to Chrysophyceae and Chlorophyceae were observed. The cell abundance of the assemblages ranged from 0.2 to 1504.2 cells·ml^-1, with an average of 72.7 cells·ml^-1, and the dominant species were Skeletonema spp., Prorocentrum dentatum, and Scrippsiella trochoidea. The highest cell abundance was appeared in north diluted waters and southwest inshore waters. The cell abundance was the maximum in mid (10 m) water layer, and the minimum in bottom layer. In diluted waters, Skeletonema spp. was the dominant species, and mainly presented in surface water layer; while in the waters with the diluted water of Yangtze River and the mixed water of Taiwan Warmer Current and Yellow Sea, Prorocentrum dentatum dominated, and mainly distributed in surface and mid water layers.

Key words: Yangtze River Estuary, Three Gorges Dam, phytoplankton, assemblage structure, biodiversity