"Andrew K. Rindsberg" wrote:
>>
> Still, there are a few mollusks that court mates (if only for a one-night
> stand) and/or care tenderly for their young. For extra points, who can name
> such a bivalve, gastropod, or cephalopod?
>
> Andrew K. Rindsberg\

Regarding the second, maternal, half of your question, Andy:

I saw a film once about the common octopus of the Mediterranean Sea,
Octopus vulgaris, which does tenderly care for her young at the terrible
expense of her life. I believe her young, in this case, are just eggs,
not cuddly little many-armed hatchlings, but she lovingly and faithfully
fans them with fresh water, and strokes them to keep off parastites and
silt, and defends them from all aggressive ovophages, and doesn't even
take time out to eat. When they hatch and depart, she, having exhausted
all her resources, expires. Octopus are semelparous, a great new word I
found (though of limited usage!) meaning they die after a single
reproductive season. (Research shows there's some lethal hormone in the
optic gland of most Octopodidae which, following reproduction, signals
mantle and arm musculature breakdown in both sexes.) The females mate
and lay and tend eggs but once. The males may mate with several
different females, but they don't outlive the females. (Southern
Synthesis: Mangold, Clarke and Roper, and Cheng)

Also, mama cowries tend their eggs. I quote from Dr. E. Alison Kay (in
Burgess's 1985 Cowries of the World, which just happens to be at hand):

"The female deposits her fertilized eggs, sometimes as long as six weeks
after copulation, in parchment-like egg capsules, 3 to 6 mm. in height,
moulded and attached to the substrate by the foot. Once the egg capsules
are deposited, the female 'broods' them, covering the egg mass with her
foot for periods as long as four weeks."

Barry Wilson says in The Southern Synthesis (p. 783) that

"Cypraeids are unusual among gastropods in that the female remains on
the egg mass, covering it with her expanded foot until the eggs
hatch....The brooding female remains on the egg mass, presumably without
feeding. For the temperate southern Australian species incubation may
take six to eight weeks. In aquaria, brooding female C. (Z.) venusta
accidentally dislodged from their egg mass will climb back and resume
their vigil (Wilson, 1985). Ostergaard (1950) reported the agressive
behavious of brooding females of C. isabella and C. helvola. When
disturbed with pencil or forceps the females pressed against the
offending object or sharply raised and lowered the shell."

But then, I think we all learned from Don Barclay's "Cone Wars" that the
Cypraeidae are remarkable animals. Right, Helmut?

And, when I was looking for info on the Octopus in Abbott's Kingdom of
the Seashell, I learned that:

"...some octopuses go through a period of courtship. During this time
certain color changes are displayed by the male, and he may at the same
time arouse the female by stroking her."  Which he darned well better do
nicely, as it seems that he's inviting her into a suicide pact!

Can I have some extra points for that, Andy? And will they spend on
Amazon.com?

Lynn Scheu
Louisville, KY