Abstract: This study aimed to explore the indicative effect of Lophius litulon as a biological acquisition device on community structure of crustaceans. From March to April 2022, we collected samples of Lophius litulon and crustaceans in the radial sand ridges of Lüsi fishing ground, with a total of 17 catch samples and 116 Lophius litulon samples being collected. We analyzed species composition of stomach contents of Lophius litulon and the species composition of crustacean catches. There were 37 species  as food for Lophius litulon in the radial sand ridges of Lüsi fishing ground. The dominant food resource was the crustacean (index of relative importance (IRI)=12107.59). Portunus tritubeiculatus (IRI=3684.90) and Palaemon gravieri (IRI=3140.23) were the dominant food organisms. There were 20 species of crustaceans in the catch, with Palaemon gravieri (IRI=8323.41), Portunus tritubeiculatus (IRI=4306.85), Leptochela gracilis (IRI=1920.79) and Alpheus distinguendus (IRI=1392.24) as the dominant species. The trophic level of Lophius litulon in the study area was 2.9, which was much lower than the values in other studies. The composition of crustaceans in the stomach contents of Lophius litulon was highly similar to that of crustaceans in the sea area of radial sand ridges (0.870-0.885), indicating that the stomach contents of Lophius litulon could be used as an indicator for crustacean community structure in the habitat.

Key words: Lophius litulon, stomach content analysis, similarity analysis, species composition