The dataset includes information collected from scientific publications about the biodiversity of the Zmiinyi Island in the Black Sea. It is the only island on the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea. Zmiinyi Island is the extreme southwestern part of the territory of Ukraine. The isolation of the island and the long-term inviolability of its habitats have created favorable conditions for the formation of unique complexes of flora and fauna, the characteristic features of which are related to the specificity of the conditions of existence in a limited space. The island is an important place for the migration of birds across the Black Sea, therefore, in the data set, special attention is paid to birds, including those discovered for the first time for the territory of Ukraine and listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. Most of the research was conducted and published by scientists of the Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University in 2003-2007. Some of the research was carried out by other scientists in a later period. In 2022, the border military unit stationed on the island became one of the most active sites of military operations during the Russian-Ukrainian war. The island has become a strategic point, on the control and the deployment of air defense systems on which, all control over the northwestern part of the Black Sea depends. The island was repeatedly subjected to rocket attacks by ship-based, land-based and air-based missiles. The fate of most of the species known for the territory of the island is currently unknown. The data set is in some ways a reference point for further monitoring of the effects of war on biodiversity.