Abstract Although the type species of the widespread, speciose, and abundant goblin spider genus Opopaea Simon was initially described from St. Vincent in the Lesser Antilles, and 15 additional New World taxa have since been assigned to the genus, we hypothesize that Opopaea is not native to the New World, and is represented in America only by introduced species that, although now pantropical in distribution, are of Old World origin. Myrmecoscaphiella Mello-Leitao is placed as a junior synonym of Opopaea, and its type species, M. borgmeyeri Mello-Leitao from Brazil, is newly synonymized with O. concolor (Blackwall), as are also O. devia Gertsch from Texas, O. guaraniana Biraben from Argentina, and O. bandina Chickering from Florida. Opopaea timida Chickering, from Panama, is placed as a junior synonym of the type species, O. deserticola Simon, which is newly recorded from Mexico, Costa Rica, Bermuda, the Bahama Islands, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Barbados, Trinidad, Colombia, an...