Siutghiol Lake is located in a heavily urbanized landscape of eastern Romania, in proximity to the cities of Constanta, Ovidiu, and the tourist resort of Mamaia, resulting in strong anthropogenic impacts on the lakes. Because the benthic domain represents an effective barometer for assessing the health of aquatic ecosystems, a study was conducted to identify the extent that invertebrates can be used as indicators of the spatial variation in ecological health of the lake. Benthic samples were collected from 18 sites in July 2009 from the center and shorelines of the lake, resulting in 54 integral replicate samples of benthos: sediment, rock and submersed vegetation, substrate with associated macro- and meiofauna. Sampling was carried out using van Veen bodengreifer and Ekman devices. Biological material was separated from sediment and macrofauna from meiofauna in the laboratory using sieves: mesh size 1mm (for macrobenthic invertebrates with size greater than 1mm) and 0.250mm (for meiofauna). Sorting and species identification was conducted under a stereomicroscope. Overall, macrobenthic invertebrates represent 5% and the meiofauna represents 95% of the numerical abundance of individuals. However, a net dominance of meiofauna compared to macrofauna (ratio by abundance of 6:1) in other areas of the lake appears to be associated with human impacts. Ten superspecific macrobenthic taxa with 18 specific taxa and 11 meiobenthic species were identified, including juvenile forms of macrobenthos. Typical meiobenthic taxa included representatives of 4 groups: Nematoda, Acarina, Ostracoda and Copepoda. The presence of Ponto-Caspian relict species is particularly important in coastal lakes. Listed relicts found in our samples include: Cordylophora caspia Pall. (Hydrozoa), Tricladid species from Turbellaria group, Hypaniola kowalewskyii Gr. (Polychaeta), Pontogammarus robustoides Sars. and P. borceae Car. (Amhipoda), Paramysis baeri bispinosa Mart. and P. intermedia Cz. (Mysidacea), Pterocuma pectinata Sow. (Cumacea), Iaera sars Valk. (Isopoda). The relict species are found in habitats dominated by vegetated substrate on the western shore, littoral zone vegetation of the lake and around the Ovidiu Island. These habitat-species associations represent a community type similar to the original benthos of the lake prior to human impacts. Earlier reports mentioned the presence of relict species but with a much greater range than that reported here. However many of these species have broad ecological tolerances and thus can withstand relatively large variation of environmental parameters.