We investigated benthic macroinvertebrate communities at 147 sites in eight river systems of the Chaohu Basin in April 2013. Community structure and environmental determinants were examined by canonical correspondence analysis. A total of 213 macroinvertebrate taxa from 177 genera, 76 families, 22 orders, 7 classes, 3 phyla were recorded. The benthic macroinvertebrate community structure showed significant spatial difference among the eight river systems. Nanfei River and Shiwuli River were dominated by Oligochaeta, accounting for more than 96% of the total abundance. Oligochaeta and Chironomidae dominated the communities in Pai River, accounting for 47.8% and 41.1% of the total abundance, respectively. Yuxi River, Baishitian River, Zhegao River and Hangbu River were mainly dominated by Gastropoda. SIMPER analysis showed that Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri was the main dominant species in Shiwuli River and Pai River, and Bellamya aeruginosa was the main dominant species in Zhao River, Yuxi River, Hangbu River, Baishitian River and Zhegao River. L. hoffmeisteri and B. aeruginosa dominated the communities in Nanfei River. The Shannon-Wiener, Simpson and Margalef indices showed significant differences among the eight river systems. Low diversity and abundant pollution tolerant species of benthic communities in Nanfei River, Pai River and Shiwuli River were structured by high nutrient loads, while high diversity and sensitive species richness in Hangbu River.