Data for Elevated temperature during rearing diminishes swimming and disturbs the metabolism of yellow perch larvae

This dataset comprises data about cardiac development, metabolism, swimming activity, gene expression, apoptosis, and vasculature changes of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) larvae under different thermal environments. We measured ejection fraction at hatch and heart rate at hatch and 20 days post-hatch (DPH). We also document whole-animal metabolic rates at hatch, 5, 10, and 20 DPH. We evaluated locomotory function through swimming behaviour assessments at various developmental stages, and analyzed gene expression at hatch for key genes, such as vascular endothelial growth factor-A (vegfa), myosin heavy chain (myhc), and NKX2-homeobox 5 (nkx2.5). Apoptotic cell death at hatch and vascular structures pre- and at hatch were analyzed to assess cellular and systemic impacts of embryonic incubation temperatures. The data were collected between April 2022 and July 2024 at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, using adult yellow perch sourced from Leadley Environmental Corp in Essex, Ontario.