Marine biogeography focuses on the history of geographic distribution of marine taxa, with areas of endemism and generalized tracks as basic units of analysis. Studies in marine biogeography are incipient for the majority of marine taxa, mainly because of difficulties in characterizing and understanding the barriers that causes cladogenesis of the groups. Currently, the study of geographical distribution of marine taxa does not have a strict analytical methodology, and many idiosyncrasies of the realm are ignored in biogeographic approaches. Herein we provided a review of the concepts of biogeographic homology, barriers and methodologies used in marine biogeography, and we stressed the importance of this discipline in studies of biodiversity and conservation.