Heterocarpus is a genus of deep-sea shrimp, mainly of tropical areas all over the world.

Heterocarpus is characterised by the highly unequal second pair of pereiopods: one side is long and thin and the other is short but stronger, besides the carapace with one or more longitudinal carinae.

The described species of this genus are: Many Heterocarpus shrimp are known for using bioluminescence as a defense, spitting it on predators.

[3] Studies about their feeding habits,[4] and the fact that they may be found in the stomach contents of some pelagic sharks[5] and other fishes[6] is interpreted as they have benthic habits, but they do migrations to the water column at night.

Some species of this genus have high fishery potential, such as H. reedi [7] and H.