Mangrove Gastropod Research in Indonesia: A Scoping Review of Taxonomic Composition, Publication Trends, and Methodological Gaps (2015–2025)

Abstract

To our knowledge, based on the databases searched, no scoping review specifically mapping publication trends, reported taxonomic composition, methodological approaches, and research gaps in Indonesian mangrove gastropod studies has been identified. This study aimed to summarize the temporal and geographic distribution of publications, identify the most frequently reported gastropod families and species, evaluate sampling and data analysis approaches, and identify research gaps to guide future studies. This study adopted a scoping review approach guided by the Population–Concept–Context (PCC) framework and was reported using the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Literature searches were conducted in the Scopus and Sinta databases to identify articles published between 2015 and 2025. Of the 158 records identified, 122 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the scoping review. The available evidence was mapped and summarized using descriptive quantitative analysis and narrative synthesis. Publications increased substantially during 2022– 2025, accounting for 63.9% of all included studies. Geographic disparities were evident, with Java accounting for 34.4% of studies that explicitly reported their research locations in the title or abstract, whereas Maluku and Papua accounted for only 6.3% of this subset. Furthermore, 47.5% of studies did not provide location information in the title or abstract. Purposive sampling was the most frequently reported station selection strategy (25.4%), while stratified random sampling was reported in only 1.6% of studies. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were reported in 2.5% and 1.6% of the included studies, respectively. The most frequently reported gastropod families were Potamididae (59.0%), Littorinidae (45.1%), Neritidae (29.5%), and Ellobiidae (26.2%). The species with the highest reporting frequencies were Littoraria scabra (25 studies), Telescopium telescopium (24 studies), and Pirenella cingulata (20 studies). The Shannon–Wiener diversity index (H′) was explicitly reported in only 31 of 122 studies (25.4%), with 61.3% categorized as having moderate diversity. Overall, research on Indonesian mangrove gastropods has increased rapidly in recent years; however, significant challenges remain regarding geographic representation, methodological transparency, and analytical approaches.