distance towed which could be used without reser- 

 vation to estimate the density of fauna. The posi- 

 tive correlation between wheel counts and two 

 other distance measures indicate that the wheels 

 do reflect distance. However, there is so much un- 

 certainty concerning accuracy and precision that 

 it is impossible to decide if apparent faunal density 

 variation is real or an artifact. The real potential 

 of bottom measuring wheels lies in the fact that 

 they are simple, inexpensive, as trawl equipment. 

 For certain sampling problems trawls will remain 

 the sampler of choice. If wheels can be improved 

 then trawl data can be quantified with greater 

 confidence. Future development should focus upon 

 improved precision and a method of field calibra- 

 tion to determine accuracy. 



Acknowledgment 



We gratefully acknowledge the financial sup- 

 port of the Biological Oceanography Program of 

 the National Science Foundation grant GB-4629; 

 the former Atomic Energy Commission contracts 

 AT(45-1) and AT(45-1)2227; and the National 

 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration In- 

 stitutional Sea Grant 2-5187. Ship usage was par- 

 tially supported by National Science Foundation 

 grant OCE-7600061. The Department of Energy 

 reference for this manuscript is RLO-227-T12-72. 

 R. Ruff, M. Kyte, and R. Paul contributed to the 

 design of the beam trawl. W. Pearcy, D. Cohen, M. 

 Downey, and anonymous reviewers gave helpful 

 guidance during writing. 



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ROBERT S, Carney 



Department of Invertebrate Zoology 

 U.S. National Museum 

 Smithsonian Institution 

 Washington, DC 20560 



School of Oceanography 

 Oregon State University 

 Corvallis, OR 97331 



Andrew G, Carey, Jr, 



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