Trends and hotspots in environmental epigenetics of aquatic invertebrates: a CiteSpace and VOSviewer-based bibliometric study

Understanding how aquatic invertebrates respond and adapt to rapid environmental change remains a key challenge in marine ecology. In recent years, environmental epigenetics has emerged as an important interdisciplinary approach, with a noticeable increase in related studies since 2020. Based on publications from 2014 to 2025, this study uses CiteSpace and VOSviewer to carry out a bibliometric analysis, aiming to outline the knowledge structure, collaboration patterns, and research development in this field. The global research network demonstrates methodological and resource complementarity, with multi-omics sequencing institutions partnering with regional marine stations that contribute taxonomically diverse aquatic invertebrate samples and localized environmental exposure data. China contributes the largest share of publications, while the overall connectivity of the network largely depends on collaborations led by the United States. At the same time, several limitations remain evident. Current studies rely heavily on DNA methylation, focus mainly on a limited number of taxa (especially aquaculture-related mollusks) and often overlook the complexity of natural environmental conditions in experimental design. In terms of research themes, the field appears to be shifting from descriptive studies linking environmental factors and phenotypic responses toward work that explores mechanisms of transgenerational adaptation. To move forward, future research should expand the use of multi-omics approaches to a wider range of non-model organisms, develop longer-term experiments under multiple stressors, and place greater emphasis on in situ validation. These efforts will be important for improving our ability to predict the resilience of benthic organisms under ongoing climate change.