Alpheid shrimps are a group of decapod crustaceans belonging to the family Alpheidae. The group is one of the most diverse among the decapod crustaceans, with 50 genera described and valid to date, which are represented by at least 779 species. The phylogeny of alpheids has been the subject of very few studies, most of the existing works do not deal with the group in a general way, rather, these focus on specific taxa, especially for the resolution of taxonomic problems with cryptic species or species complexes. Thanks to the relative and extensive taxonomic knowledge that exists of the Alpheidae, it is known that these organisms have a tropical and subtropical distribution; from the point of view of biogeographical analysis, very little is known about these shrimp, due to the few or non-existent studies in this field, only becoming part of comprehensive studies together with other decapod crustaceans or invertebrate in general. Due to the limited existing information for certain areas of knowledge (e.g. biogeography, systematic phylogenetic) and how scattered and ancient it may be, the decision was made to carry out a a review about the state of knowledge in taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of the
family Alpheidae, with emphasis on the biodiversity of the Caribbean Sea in general and the Venezuelan
coast (Caribbean and Atlantic).
