Based on the data collected from the 16~(th) International Meiofauna Conference, Heraklion, Greece, 2016, together with the available information, the history, present status, trends and some important progress are in reviews, which include the methodology for meiofauna, taxonomy of free-living marine nematodes and benthic copepods, distribution of abundance and biomass, effect of Spartina alterniflora invasion on nematode communities, size spectrum and secondary production, feeding ecology, culture in laboratory and life cycle, environmental monitoring, molecular biology and systematic evolution of marine nematodes, benthic-pelagic coupling model and senior qualified personnel training. Some strategy and tactics to enhance the study in this field are also suggested.