Hi Ross and others,
 
Paul Callomon here. I thought I'd try conch-l for a bit. I am an
ex-collector who now makes shell-books for a living here in Japan. I am
currently finishing work on our new book, so here's an update for those who
haven't been involved so far : the Catalogue and Bibliography of the Marine
Shell-bearing Mollusca of Japan is the title; 730 pages of A4, so it's a
big lump, but it's all in English so no inscrutable squiggles to decipher.
We (Shun'ichi Higo, myself and Yoshihiro Goto) treat 5022 species of
gastropoda and 1472 bivalves in checklist form with type localities,
distribution, habitat, synonymy and Japanese names for all of them; all
type species of genera are given, and all author names and dates for higher
groups (family, superfamily etc.) are there too. A 3000-plus-entry
biliography and distribution maps too. Should be available by late May. We
will then follow this with a second volume of plates; I have already
photographed 3500 species, about half of them type specimens, and hope to
eventually figure 3-4000 types. This one is planned for 2002.
I will be at COA this year to show the book and meet folks.
 
Paul Callomon