"Bioassseesment and Biocriteria" is the topic of a set of helpful Web sites maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water: http://www.epa.gov/ost/biocriteria. We recommend starting by clicking on "EPA's Bioassessment and Biocriteria Program", then the link for "Technical Assistance and Guidance Documents:, then` "Guidance Documents:. Searches from this page http://www.epa.gov/ceisweb1/ceishome/atlas/bioindicators/publications.html will yield documents on all faunal groups, with emphasis on invertebrates and fish in aquatic systems.
Species Profiles: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates
This series describes the life histories and environmental requirements of coastal aquatic organisms along the coasts of the United States; the organisms are principally fish of sport, commercial, or ecological importance. The profiles were designed to provide coastal managers, engineers, and biologists with a brief, comprehensive sketch of the biological characteristics and environmental requirements of the species and to describe how populations of the species may be expected to react to environmental changes caused by coastal development. Individual profiles have sections on taxonomy, life history, ecological role, environmental requirements, and economic importance, if applicable.
The series contains 126 profiles, listed by species name and available as PDF files from: http://www.nwrc.gov/publications/specintro.html. Preparation of the species profiles was organized according to regions (e.g., Gulf of Mexico coast, North Atlantic Coast, Pacific Northwest). The series was produced by the National Wetlands Research Center in the 1980's, and the project was jointly planned and financed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Estuarine Fishes
Seventy species accounts for juvenile estuarine fishes of the northeast are found in a 1998 book:
Able, K. W., and M. P. Fahay. (1998). The First Year in the Life of Estuarine Fishes in the Middle Atlantic Bight. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.
This 342-page book may be ordered from the major Web vendors.