>3) What special tools do you use? (and, of course, how do you use them)?<

An inexpensive source for fine mesh screen is to get the leg and foot of a nylon stocking.  Getting the remaining leg from a pair of stockings that has a run in them is financially easy, though it may require some explanation of motives on the part of male collectors.

One way to concentrate microgastropods relative to sand, etc. is to thoroughly dry a sediment sample and then toss it into a bucket of water.  Most gastropods will have trapped air bubbles and will float.  Pour the floating stuff through your stocking and you will have a nice sample to pick through.  This may also work for paired bivalved but is not as effective for them.

    Dr. David Campbell
    Old Seashells
    University of Alabama
    Biodiversity & Systematics
    Dept. Biological Sciences
    Box 870345
    Tuscaloosa, AL  35487-0345 USA
    [log in to unmask]

That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa