The genera Hoplopisthius and Carcinopisthius are reviewed. All the species are redescribed and illustrated and an updated identification key and distributional maps are provided. One new species from New Guinea is described (Hoplopisthius maximus n. sp.) and two new synonymies are proposed: Hoplopisthius celebensis Kolbe, 1892 = H. trichemerus Senna, 1892, n. syn. and Carcinopisthius lamingtoni Damoiseau, 1987 = C. forcipitiger Damoiseau, 1987, n. syn. Phylogenetic analysis using PAUP (maximum parsimony) was performed using 25 morphological characters of adults. This analysis shows the group Hoplopisthius + Carcinopisthius is monophyletic, but Carcinopisthius alone is paraphyletic. Nomenclatural changes at the generic level are made to reconcile nomenclature and phylogeny: Hoplopisthius is preserved; Carcinopisthius is downgraded to the rank of subgenus for the two oriental species H. oberthueri and H. fruhstorferi; and Pseudotaphroderes is resurrected as a third subgenus and includes all New-Guinean and Australian species.