The case of the 16 alleged endemic molluscs reported by Gofas (1999) from the Strait of Gibraltar is checked. On the basis of the research managed in literature and in some collections, 14 of these species are recorded in fact from one or several stations located out of the Strait area, and only 2 of them remain only known from stations belonging to the Strait area. The 7 supposed « Strait endemics » proposed in addition by Gallardo, Sanchez, Gofas & Salas (2016) are poorly demonstrated or contradicted by further records. In these conditions, the thesis of an endemism hot spot for marine molluscs in the Strait of Gibraltar cannot be supported. The dominant pattern of distribution prevailing in the Strait of Gibraltar seems to be that of a lane allowing the latitudinaldistribution of species ranging, at least partially, both in the Ibero-Moroccan Gulf and in Southern Mediterranean, and the feeling of an endemic status in the Strait area seems to come principally from a partial view on the endemic fauna ranging along the Mediterranean coasts of North Africa. |
