Data on the abundance and biomass of benthic macrofauna off the River Świna discharge to the Pomeranian Bay (southern Baltic), obtained as a result of a single sampling event, were subjected to a multivariate analysis involving ordination by means of multidimensional scaling (MDS). The analysis identified two groupings: west and east to the shipping channel bisecting the area of study. The dissimilarity matrix-based analysis of variance (ANOSIM) showed significant differences in abundance and biomass between the two groupings. The separation was mainly a product of differences between the abundance and biomass of oligochaetes, Hediste diversicolor, Marenzelleria viridis, Streblospio shrubsoli, Manayunkia aestuarina, Mya arenaria and Macoma balthica, higher west of the channel as well as the lower abundance and biomass of Pygospio elegans, Cyathura carinata, Mytilus edulis, and Cerastoderma lamarcki. The major underlying cause of the differences between the two parts of the area is the organic enrichment of the sediment west of the channel. The macrofauna biomass there was five times that recorded east of the channel.

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