1. The Rotifera assemblage inhabiting the streambed surface and the hyporheic zone of a gravel stream was investigated between October 1991 and October 1992. Forty‐two species of Monogononta and 27 of Bdelloidea were identified. Within these two classes, dominant species differed between the surface and the hyporheic zone. At the streambed surface, the abundance of monogonont rotifers showed a seasonal pattern with significantly higher densities in pools, whereas bdelloids showed no clear temporal trend and did not differ significantly among sites. In the hyporheic zone, the depth distribution differed among the two rotifer groups, bdelloids occurred in highest densities between 0 and 30 cm sediment depth, while monogononts were most abundant at greater depths.2. Species composition differed greatly between successive sampling dates (min. 5 to max. 26 days) at both the streambed surface and the hyporheos. At the streambed surface and in the shallow hyporheos a significantly higher percentage of species was replaced in riffles than in pools.3. Few measured hydrophysical variables were associated with the Rotifera assemblage structure. At the streambed surface, species richness was negatively correlated with water temperature and substratum heterogeneity, and Monogononta rotifer densities declined with water depth and substratum roughness.4. Permutation tests carried out on temporal serial correlations showed that, at riffle sites at the streambed surface, bdelloid rotifer densities, rotifer species richness and diversity did not differ significantly from a temporal, near‐random pattern. The hyporheic rotifer assemblage followed similar near‐random patterns.