Data for: Comparative thermal performance among four young-of-the-year temperate reef fish species

Identifying the role of temperature on species-specific performance is critical for predicting how species will  respond to temperature increases expected under climate change. We compared thermal performance of two sympatric Pacific rockfish species complexes (controls for relatedness and geographic location) that vary in larval life-history traits associated with different oceanographic regimes including temperature during early life-history stages: the BY complex (Black: Sebastes melanops, Yellowtail: S. flavidus) and the CQ complex (Copper: S. caurinus, Quillback: S. maliger). By using controlled  experiments, we evaluated foraging activity, growth and survival of young-of-the-year (YOY) rockfish recruits under current and future habitat temperatures over a 14-day time period indicative of marine heatwave events expected with climate change. BY rockfish displayed a heat-intolerant behavior by only foraging at temperatures within current habitat temperatures, whereas the CQ rockfish displayed a heat-tolerant behavior by actively foraging at temperatures above current and future predicted temperatures for a limited time. Although growth and survival in each species significantly declined with temperature, the magnitude of the effect did not vary between species. Taken together, our results show that rockfish are capable of using different behavioral strategies to cope with warming, and may be differentially impacted by future climate conditions.