A widespread, consistent, and perplexing biphasic pattern in log catch-at-age data from a widely harvested family of tropical reef fishes

Abstract

Patterns of cohort decline are key demographic traits that provide a unique temporal perspective vital to understanding population dynamics. The discovery of multidecadal lifespans in tropical surgeonfishes in the 1990s created a paradigm shift to the notion that they are highly vulnerable species with low population recovery rates; however, research into the mortality patterns of surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae) has been sparse until recently. Recent studies on this family have demonstrated an unusual (possibly unique), two-phase pattern of adult catch-at-age, whereby there is a population-level shift from higher-than-expected rates of decline early in life to lower-than-expected decline rates for the remainder of the lifespan. To examine the geographic and phylogenetic ubiquity of this pattern, we compiled age-based information from demographic samples of 70 populations of 25 tropical species spanning the Indo-Central Pacific and Central-Western Atlantic. Overall, we found that 79% of populations exhibited strong biphasic patterns, including 88% of populations across the Indo-Central Pacific. By accounting for empirical relationships instead of using linear catch curves or classical assumptions of natural population decay based on lifespan, we demonstrate that surgeonfishes have turnover times that are two to four times faster than previously believed. Faster turnover times may suggest a higher level of sustainability for surgeonfish fisheries throughout the global tropics than previously estimated.