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.

中文翻译：

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广泛捕捞的热带珊瑚鱼家族的捕捞年龄数据中存在广泛、一致且令人困惑的双相模式


群体下降模式是关键的人口特征，它提供了独特的时间视角，对于理解人口动态至关重要。 20 世纪 90 年代，热带刺尾鱼寿命长达数十年的发现引发了人们的观念转变，即热带刺尾鱼是高度脆弱的物种，种群恢复率较低；然而，直到最近，对刺尾鱼（Acanthuridae）死亡模式的研究还很少。最近对这个家庭的研究表明了一种不寻常的（可能是独特的）成年捕获年龄的两阶段模式，即人口水平从早期高于预期的下降率转变为低于预期的下降率。 ‐剩余寿命的预期下降率。为了研究这种模式在地理和系统发育上的普遍性，我们从跨越印度-中太平洋和中西大西洋的 25 个热带物种 70 个种群的人口统计样本中收集了基于年龄的信息。总体而言，我们发现 79% 的人口表现出强烈的双相模式，其中包括印度-中太平洋地区 88% 的人口。通过考虑经验关系，而不是使用线性捕获曲线或基于寿命的自然种群衰减的经典假设，我们证明刺尾鱼的周转时间比以前认为的快两到四倍。更快的周转时间可能表明全球热带地区刺尾鱼渔业的可持续性水平比之前估计的要高。