Abstract: An investigation was conducted on the macrobenthos at 37 sampling sites in the Taihu River basin in August 2009 and May 2010.A total of 69 macrobenthos species were collected, of which, 15 species (21.7% of the total) were oligochaetas, 16 species (23.2%) were mollusks, 5 species (7.2%) were crustaceans, 27 species (39.1%) were aquatic insects, and 6 species (8.7%) were polychaetes. Based on the species composition and relative abundance, and by using two-way indicators species analysis (TWINSPAN) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), the 37 sampling sites were divided into four groups. In the first group, polychaetes and mollusks such as Nephthys sp. and Corbicula fluminea were the indicator species; in the second group, polychaetes and mollusks such as Grandidierella aihuensis and Semisulcospira libertina were the indicator species; in the third and fourth groups, the indicator species were the annelids such as Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri and the Tubifex tubifex and chironomidae larvae, respectively. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that water conductivity and total nitrogen were the main environmental factors affecting the distribution of macrobenthos, and the factors water depth, diaphaneity, COD_Cr, ammonium nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, and chlorophyll a also had definite effects.

Key words: Taihu River basin, macrobenthos, community structure, TWINSPAN, DCA, CCA