Congruence between riverine fish species richness and endemism at the biogeographical scale: the role of history

1. This study aims to illustrate, on a European scale, how the congruence between riverine fish species richness and endemism is strongly related to biogeographical history. 2. A positive curvilinear relationship between species richness and endemism was found for Ponto-Caspian Europe and peri-Mediterranea, both spared by the last glacial maximum. 3. These results have important implications for European riverine fish biodiversity conservation, notably with regard to peri-Mediterranea, which is expected to suffer from major climatic changes during the 21st century.