How many species of animals are there in Iceland?

Answer

Family	Number of Species
Insects	1245
Spiders	84
Pseudoscorpion	2
Harvest spiders	4
Acari*	90		*that is to say mites. The number of predatory ants is not known.
Multipedes	10
Earthworms	10
Snails	50
Birds (nesting)	80
Mammals**	8		**This refers to wild Icelandic mammals. We could add a few more mammals, like man and our domesticated animals.

This list is not exhaustive, as some aquatic species were not mentioned. In lakes in Iceland the main species are several fresh water fish species and crabs. Animals that are in some way related to the sea, or whose habitat is where land and sea meet, such as amphipods and bristleworms, are also not included in the list.

This list does however give some picture of the number of species on dry land. They probably total about 1600 species.

Translated by Paul Richardson.