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The mouth of the Neretva River feeds a great number of species and provides a breeding ground for certain fish and crabs. These areas are also important for fish and bird migrations. There are 310 bird species in the Neretva Delta and 115 of them are nesting. The area is important for bird migrations and wintering. The shallow waters and reefs provide a good habitat for migration of the Black-headed Bunting (Emberiza melanocephala), as well as waders, terns and gulls. Cane fields and water surfaces are important for migrations and wintering of goose birds. The cane fields, surrounding meadows and bush are vital to various species of birds.
 Some European endangered species, like the Great bittern (Botaurus stellaris), the Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) - picture left, and the Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), nest on the cane fields, the sand beaches and the trees. Cane fields are also important for the nesting of the Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago L.) and other species, like the Baillon's Crake (Porzana pusilla) and the Moustached Warbler (Acrocephalus melanopogon).
Of the mammals there are carnivores such as the wolf (Canis lupus), the lynx (Lynx lynx) on the area boundaries, the otter (Lutra lutra), the Beech Marten (Martes foina), the Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis), the European polecat (Mustela putorius), the Eurasian badger (Meles meles), bats such as Bechstein's bat (Myotis bechsteini), Geoffroy's bat (Myotis emarginatus), the Lesser Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros), the Long-fingered bat (Myotis capaccinii), the Mediterranean Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus euryale), Mehely's Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus mehelyi), the Western Barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus).
 The reptiles which live in Neretva Delta and in its surrounding areas are: the European pond terrapin (Emys orbicularis), Hermann’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni), the keeled lizard (Algyroides migropunctatus,
Lacerta spp., Podarcis spp., Elaphe spp.), the grass snake (Natrix natrix), the Tessellated grass snake (Natrix tessellated) the European cat snake (Telescopus fellax) and the nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes).
The common amphibians which live in wetlands and caves are the olm (Proteus anguinus), the European fire salamander (Salamandra salamander), Tritus vulgaris and various species of frogs.
The mouth of Neretva is a feeding area of great biological production for numerous fish species (34 species of freshwater fish and 100 species of marine fish). The Delta, its lagoons and brackish waters are hatcheries for fish and crabs which then spend the rest of their life in the fresh or salt water. They also function as entrances and exits for fish migrations.
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