Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Fauna of Romania
The fauna of Romania comprises all the animal species inhabiting the country of Romania and its coastal territory in the Black Sea.
According to a systematic list of the Romanian vertebrate fauna, there are 732 species of vertebrates living in Romania. When grouped into classes, the largest number of these species are birds, with 382 species, followed by fish with 184. 110 of these species are mammals, 31 are reptiles, 20 are amphibians, while only four belong to the Cyclostomata class of jawless fish.
The cyclostomata superclass of vertebrates is represented in Romania by four species of lampreys that live in fast, mountains streams. They are found particularly in Transylvania, in rivers such as Criș, Mureș, Someș and Vișeu.
Romania's rivers, lakes and ponds are home to numerous species of freshwater fish, most importantly carp, Prussian carp, chub, trout, perch, zander, bream, pike, roach and the wels catfish.
Additionally, six species of sturgeon live in the Black Sea, but travel upriver on the Danube to mate. Five of the six Danube sturgeon species are critically endangered, with only the sterlet being considered vulnerable. The most well known of these six species is probably the beluga sturgeon, which is heavily fished for the female's valuable roe – known as beluga caviar.
Romania is also home to the asprete, a critically endangered species described by the media as a living fossil and "Europe's rarest fish". Once common in the waters of the Argeș river and its tributaries, Râul Doamnei and Vâlsan, by the 2000s it was only found to be extant in a 1 km stretch of the Vâlsan, with conservationist fearing that less than 10 individuals remained. Increased conservation and survey efforts led to a resurgence in the numbers of identified individuals, with a 2022 survey finding 58 asprete across a 15 km stretch of the Vâlsan.
The saltwater fish of Romania are the Black Sea species of fish that live in the territorial waters of Romania. A 2005 biodiversity inventory of the Romanian waters identified around 140 species and subspecies of marine fish. Many of the species have seen their stocks plummet in the last 50 years due to commercial exploitation. The six species that are the most commercially viable today are all small-sized fish: the red mullet, the sand smelt, the round goby, the European anchovy, the merling and the sprat.
According to recent reports, dozens of species of fish that were believed to be extinct in the Black Sea have reappeared in the area in the last few years, most likely travelling from the Mediterranean, due to the improved water quality and regeneration of the Black Sea ecosystem.
Hub AI
Fauna of Romania AI simulator
(@Fauna of Romania_simulator)
Fauna of Romania
The fauna of Romania comprises all the animal species inhabiting the country of Romania and its coastal territory in the Black Sea.
According to a systematic list of the Romanian vertebrate fauna, there are 732 species of vertebrates living in Romania. When grouped into classes, the largest number of these species are birds, with 382 species, followed by fish with 184. 110 of these species are mammals, 31 are reptiles, 20 are amphibians, while only four belong to the Cyclostomata class of jawless fish.
The cyclostomata superclass of vertebrates is represented in Romania by four species of lampreys that live in fast, mountains streams. They are found particularly in Transylvania, in rivers such as Criș, Mureș, Someș and Vișeu.
Romania's rivers, lakes and ponds are home to numerous species of freshwater fish, most importantly carp, Prussian carp, chub, trout, perch, zander, bream, pike, roach and the wels catfish.
Additionally, six species of sturgeon live in the Black Sea, but travel upriver on the Danube to mate. Five of the six Danube sturgeon species are critically endangered, with only the sterlet being considered vulnerable. The most well known of these six species is probably the beluga sturgeon, which is heavily fished for the female's valuable roe – known as beluga caviar.
Romania is also home to the asprete, a critically endangered species described by the media as a living fossil and "Europe's rarest fish". Once common in the waters of the Argeș river and its tributaries, Râul Doamnei and Vâlsan, by the 2000s it was only found to be extant in a 1 km stretch of the Vâlsan, with conservationist fearing that less than 10 individuals remained. Increased conservation and survey efforts led to a resurgence in the numbers of identified individuals, with a 2022 survey finding 58 asprete across a 15 km stretch of the Vâlsan.
The saltwater fish of Romania are the Black Sea species of fish that live in the territorial waters of Romania. A 2005 biodiversity inventory of the Romanian waters identified around 140 species and subspecies of marine fish. Many of the species have seen their stocks plummet in the last 50 years due to commercial exploitation. The six species that are the most commercially viable today are all small-sized fish: the red mullet, the sand smelt, the round goby, the European anchovy, the merling and the sprat.
According to recent reports, dozens of species of fish that were believed to be extinct in the Black Sea have reappeared in the area in the last few years, most likely travelling from the Mediterranean, due to the improved water quality and regeneration of the Black Sea ecosystem.