Trends and development of shrimp and prawn aquaculture research: a CiteSpace-based scientometric analysis

Decapod crustaceans, particularly shrimp and prawns, dominate global shellfish aquaculture across marine, brackish, and freshwater systems. As global demand accelerates amid environmental and population pressures, a systematic evaluation of the scientific landscape is essential to guide strategic planning and sustainable innovation. This study presents a systematic, multi-decadal scientometric analysis of global shrimp and prawn aquaculture research. Utilizing metadata retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database spanning from 1970 to 2024, an initial pool of 11,047 raw publications was subjected to automated software data cleaning. Following the removal of duplicate records, a finalized dataset comprising 10,896 unique documents and 606,210 cited references was analysed using CiteSpace (Version 6.4.R2). The network architecture revealed a highly structured division of specialties, identifying 37 distinct thematic clusters with high internal consistency. The most prominent research frontiers included white spot syndrome virus (WSSV; Cluster #0, silhouette = 0.895), intestinal microbiota (Cluster #1, silhouette = 0.866), and Artemia-based larval feeding (Cluster #2, silhouette = 0.915). Temporal tracking indicates a marked paradigm shift over the past five decades: transitioning from early foundational hatchery techniques and larval nutrition (1970–1980 s), to disease diagnostics and biosecurity protocols (1990–2000 s), and recently to integrated health, functional genomics, and sustainable intensification. Contemporary cutting-edge fronts are preoccupied with system efficiency and microbial ecology, evidenced by strong, recent citation bursts for “growth performance” (burst strength = 41.08), “microbial community” (39.35), and “oxidative stress” (38.35) between 2020 and 2024. Landmark intellectual bridges defining the network include highly co-cited studies on acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) and biofloc systems. Ultimately, this structural knowledge mapping moves beyond a descriptive summary to provide an empirical roadmap of research trajectories and critical gaps, highlighting the urgent need for interdisciplinary approaches to build climate-resilient, health-optimised shrimp and prawn aquaculture production systems.

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