Over het aanspoelen van zoetwatermollusken uit de Nijl op de Middellandse zeekust van Israël en wat daar allemaal aan vast kan zitten

Freshwater molluscs from the Nile reach the Mediterranean coast of Israel from time to time. This event has probably been going on since centuries. The question arises whether living molluscs can reach in this way also the Levant coast and are they capable of starting new colonies in the wetlands along the coast. Another question is whether the regular arrival of Nilotic molluscs in the past may have left traces in the quaternary sediments and may have influenced palaeoecological interpretations. These questions are discussed in the wake of drifting ashore of numerous Nilotic molluscs in the spring of 1994. It is the author’s opinion that even if such molluscs arrive alive on the Levant coast the possibility that they are able to start a new colony may be ruled out by the lack of suitable habitats. However under certain conditions they may have become embedded and contaminated fossil layers. The presence of African elements in the aquatic fauna and flora of the coastal zone may be traced back to a direct connection between the Nile delta and the coastal rivers in the southern Levant during the Ice Ages.