The original objective of this study was to describe the abundant but little-known freshwater and terrestrial decapod crustaceans of Dominica. However, it became apparent that even with intensive collecting it was hardly possible to reveal every species that might occur on that island. To lend completeness to the Dominican coverage and make the study useful to biologists interested in the faunas of other islands, 92 species known from all of the West Indies were included to offer a provisional handbook of the decapods that may occur naturally in reduced salinities or above the high-tide line on any of the island from Bermuda to Trinidad and throughout the Caribbean Seas.