Abstract:Meiofaunal communities represent a functional part of the complex marine ecosystem. In almost all marine sediments the nematodes are numerically the dominant group of the meiofauna often comprising more than 90 % of the metazoa. In spite of this, information regarding interannual fluctuations in species composition of nematodes is sparse in China, especially in sublittoral habitats. Free-living marine nematodes were sampled on three occasions, in June 1997 and in September / October 1998 and again in Apri...