Bibliometric update of the Serranidae (Swainson, 1839) family in the Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

The Serranidae family’s strong economic importance in the Atlantic Ocean, especially in subtropical areas, conflicts with their ecological role as slow growing predators, especially species that form reproductive aggregations, causing many species to be over-fished. Despite this most studies focus solely on the most economically important species, leaving many gaps in our current understanding of the group. The goal of this article is to better understand the state of the scientific studies focusing on this family in the Atlantic. We gathered data using the Scopus database using the query “TITLE-ABS-KEY ( serranidae AND atlantic )” and filtered the results. Our results show a decrease in both citation and publication rates as well as a big concentration of research on the western Atlantic, especially the USA. We presented an update in the bibliometry regarding scientific production, citations, country collaborations, journals and institutions for the Serranidae family in the Atlantic Ocean, and conclude there are knowledge gaps and that the concentration of studies in one location is worrying because the threats on groupers are not localized but rather universal, there’s also a need for more continuous studies.