Tom,
 
I agree with Jose Leal's nomination of Yonge and Thompson's Living Marine
Molluscs. So interesting.  Another super book for learning about mollusks
is The Shell Makers by the late Dr. G. Alan Solem (1974) . He writes very
fine and readable prose and his book, while not addressing specifically
and systematically for each group the information you want, is nonetheless
a mine of bits and pieces of that sort of information, as well as a great
teacher of how it all came about.  Two other books, one older, and one new:
 
Sea Shells of Southern Africa by Richard Kilburn and Elizabeth Rippey
(1982) tells a lot about the habits and habitats of the families it covers.
I highly recommend it.  It and The Shell Makers should be available from
used book dealers like Dick Petit.
 
A new and quite costly two volume set (up to $295 but 1200 large and
heavily illustrated pages)  (Parts A and B) is Mollusca The Southern
Synthesis, volume 5 in the Fauna of Australia Series (1998). It contains a
lot of anatomical information, and where it is known, information about the
life habits of the animal.  "Dense mating aggregations during the spawning
season" are mentioned for Strombus, for instance, but nothing for cones. I
am sure this is available through Patty Jansen and other book dealers.
 
Maybe someday a new and more definitive book on the subject will be
written, enriched by these field observations like Don's that appear on
Conch-L. Speaking of mines of information. . . .
 
Lynn Scheu
Louisville, KY
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