Based on the data collected from the bottom otter trawl surveys in the coastal waters off Qingdao in spring and autumn 2004, the fish community structure was analyzed using univariate and multivariate methods. The results showed that 31 and 32 fish species were caught in spring and autumn surveys, respectively. The mean catches per haul were at 7.36 kg/h in spring and 2.99 kg/h in autumn. The dominant species mainly consisted of chefoo thryssa Thrissa chefuensis, fat greenling Hexagrammos otakii, blenny Enedrias fangi, yellowfin goby Acanthogobius flavimanus, snailfish Liparis tanakai and shortfin lizardfish Saurida elongata etc. Three station groups were identified for both spring and autumn, being located at the northern, central and southern part of the survey waters, respectively. The dominant species varied in different station groups in spring and autumn. There were significant differences in species compositions among different station groups. The typifying species within station groups and discriminating species most responsible for the dissimilarity between station groups were examined. The typifying species varied between station groups in spring and autumn. In spring, chefoo thryssa, fat greenling, yellowfin goby, blenny, whitespotted conger Conger myriaster, frog flounder Pleuronichthys cornutus and snailfish were discriminators for all between-groups. In autumn, chefoo thryssa, white croaker Argyrosomus argentatus, shortfin lizardfish, fat greenling, hairtail Trichiurus lepturus, red tongue sole Cynoglossus joyneri, blenny, cardinal fish Apogonichthys lineatus, small yellow croaker Pseudosciaena polyactis and finespot goby Chaeturichthys stigmatias were most responsible for the dissimilarities for all between-groups. Most typifying species also acted as the discriminator between station groups, which was mainly caused by the spatial changes in the abundance of these species. There existed distinct spatiotemporal heterogeneity for the fish community structure in the coastal waters off Qingdao.