Thanks to Paul Monfils for a very informative piece on dredging! Long ago and far away, while engaged in deepsea work, I ran across late 19th-century references to an apparatus that consisted of a T-bar with many strands of frayed rope attached, rather like a large push-broom. This was trawled on the bottom to collect echinoderms, which would get caught in the strands of rope. (Presumably it was only used on soft bottoms, where the ropes would not snag on rocks.) This was used, for instance, in the Challenger expedition, a famous British expedition that spent several years exploring the world's deep-sea floor. I saw no recent references to this kind of trawl. Does anyone on Conch-L have experience with it? Andrew K. Rindsberg Geological Survey of Alabama P.S. I thoroughly enjoyed the sea monster stories, by the way. Thanks!