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.