Based on Colombia and Venezuela's biological collections, and on a recent literature review, this is the first consolidated species list of decapod crustaceans for the Orinoco river basin. The freshwater and estuary carcinofauna of the Orinoco basin includes 79 species of 17 families, of which 35 species are shrimp and 44 are crabs. 46 species strictly inhabit fresh water habitats, 5 species inhabit freshwater-estuarine, and 28 inhabit marine-estuarine. The Palaemonidae shrimp family is the most represented, with 5 genera and 26 species (32.9 %). The crabs are grouped in 10 families of which only two are strictly freshwater inhabitants: Trichodactylidae (5 sp.) y Pseudothelphusidae (16 sp.). The list contains information on its geographic distribution, introduced species, habitat and anthropogenic use of each species.