This dataset contains benthic invertebrate data from Ekman grab samples on Oneida Lake and is part of the collection "Cornell Oneida Lake Data". The Cornell Biological Field Station (CBFS) serves as a primary field site for aquatic research at Cornell University (more information can be found at http://www.cbfs.dnr.cornell.edu) and is part of the Department of Natural Resources, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University. The centerpiece of the station's research program is a 60-year database on the food web of Oneida Lake, New York, that has been collected with support from the Cornell University Brown Endowment and from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The data are collected by personnel from the Cornell Biological Field Station and include limnology, benthos, zooplankton, phytoplankton, and fish survey data, primarily from Oneida Lake and spanning 1957 to the present. This dataset contains counts of benthic invertebrates sampled since 1956 at three to seven locations per year on Oneida Lake in central New York state. Samples were collected using an Ekman sampler, and invertebrates were handpicked from samples and identified, taxonomic level varies. The dataset is comprised of a primary table with a summary of the data available organized by taxonomic groups defined in the taxonomy table. Fields also include year, depth category (shallow versus deep sites) and season. A third table contains latitude and longitude in decimal degrees for each site as well as the classification of each site as shallow or deep sites. This is a companion data set to the book Oneida Lake: Long-term dynamics of a managed ecosystem and its fisheries, edited by LG Rudstam, EL Mills, JR Jackson and DJ Stewart and published by the American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.