Although dominant species exert the most control on community structure, the temporo-spatial heterogeneity of dominance as an integrative indicator has been often overlooked. To study fish community structure in Jiaozhou Bay, we analyzed 2008-2012 survey data from this area to determine species dominance (with IRI, index of relative importance) and variation in dominant species (with bootstrapping and multivariate linear regression). The results indicate that dominant species have changed substantially compared with previous studies. were the most dominant, comprising 9.79% and 10.71% of the total catch, with dominance indices of 3285 and 2068, respectively. Species dominance changed significantly between seasons, with in the summer, and in the fall and winter. Species composition differences were minor between the mouth and inner bay but notable in the outer bay. Multivariate linear regressions showed that during the survey period, decreased. This difference was significant across years ( < 0.01), implying obvious succession. Our analysis suggested that dominance heterogeneity between species may be driven by migration habits, seasonal fluctuations in water temperature, sediment type/depth, and the availability of forage organisms.