Within the genus Globicephala Lesson, 1828, only two species can be recognized, namely: Globicephala melaena (Traill, 1809) and Globicephala macrorhynchus Gray, 1846. Globicephala sieboldii Gray, 1846, is a synonym of G. macrorhynchus. Synonymies of the two species as well as a key to both species are given. Whether Globicephala melaena has an antitropical distribution in the Pacific as in the Atlantic is not yet known.