Book excerpt: In the heart of the book, they describe the natural history of the eggs, larvae, and juveniles of seventy fish species, the most abundant and ecologically/economically important of 300+ species whose young are found in the Hudson and Delaware estuaries and smaller New Jersey rivers, estuaries, and bays. They stress the temporal and spatial distribution of eggs, larvae, and juveniles. They also analyze the patterns and subtle variations in the ecology and life history strategies of these species: their growth rates, where they find refuge from predators, how they survive their first winter, and how they share the estuarine habitat with so many other species.