The fauna of Romania comprises all the animal species inhabiting the country of Romania and its coastal territory in the Black Sea.
Invertebrates
Vertebrates
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.
Cyclostomata
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.
Fish
Freshwater
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 in order 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.
Saltwater
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.
Other species that can be found on the Romanian coast include two species of rays, two species of sharks and dozens of species of teleostean fish.
Amphibians
The amphibian population of Romania includes more than a dozen species of frogs and toads, several species of newts and the fire salamander, out of which nine species are not found anywhere else outside of Romania.
The most common amphibians are the common toad, the yellow-belled toad, the European green toad, the agile frog and the smooth newt.
Reptiles
There are a total of ten species of snakes living in Romania, of which three, the common European viper, the meadow viper and the horned viper, are venomous. The horned viper in particular is considered to be extremely dangerous and possibly the most venomous snake in Europe.
The javeline sand boa, the rarest species of snake in Europe and the only species of boa on the continent, was believed extinct in Romania, with the last live specimen being reported in 1937. An entire stable population of the species was discovered by experts in 2014 along the banks of the Danube, with the exact location being kept a secret to avoid trophy hunting.
Four species of turtle and tortoise call Romania their home: The European pond turtle, the common tortoise, Hermann's tortoise and the marine loggerhead sea turtle. In recent years, a number of exotic species such as the Mississippi map turtle and even the Chinese softshell turtle were spotted in ponds and rivers around Bucharest, but their presence has not been extensively documented and their impact on the environment is not yet clearly understood.