Abstract:The Penglai 19-3 oil spill in 2011 is considered as one of the most serious oil spill incidents in the Bohai Sea. However, the effect of the oil spill on benthic crustaceans is unclear. In this study, we analyzed the inter-annual variation in the community structure of crustaceans in the Bohai Sea based on the survey data collected by bottom trawls in summer (August) from 2009 to 2015. A total of 33 benthic crustacean species belonging to 2 orders, 21 families, and 29 genera were captured, which included 16 shrimp species, 16 crab species, and 1 stomatopod. The ecologically dominant species changed every year. However, Oratosquilla oratoria was the most dominant species every year from 2009 to 2015. Both the number of crustacean species and the biomass or individual yields declined from 2009 to 2013, and then increased from 2014 to 2015, synchronously. Cluster analysis (CLUSTER) and multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis indicated that the crustacean community during 2009 to 2015 can be divided into 4 groups. The single factor analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) indicated that the difference in the community structure of crustaceans was significant (P<0.05). The similarity analysis of percentage (SIMPER) indicated that O. oratoria, Palaemon gravieri, and Latreutes anoplonyx contributed maximum to the intergroup similarity. The community alternating and community migration indices indicated that the stability of the crustacean community was the best in 2010 and the worst in 2013. The results indicate that the benthic crustacean community in the Bohai Sea recovered gradually during 2014 to 2015, three to four years after the Penglai 19-3 oil spill incident.
