RT Journal Article T1 Sea snakes (Elapidae, Hydrophiinae) in their westernmost extent: an updated and illustrated checklist and key to the species in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman JF ZooKeys JO ZK FD Pensoft Publishers DO 10.3897/zookeys.622.9939 VO 622 A1 Rezaie-Atagholipour, Mohsen A1 Ghezellou, Parviz A1 Hesni, Majid Askari A1 Dakhteh, Seyyed Mohammad Hashem A1 Ahmadian, Hooman A1 Vidal, Nicolas YR 2016 UL https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.622.9939 AB The Persian Gulf is known as the westernmost distribution limit for sea snakes, except for Hydrophis platurus (Linnaeus, 1766) that reaches southeastern Africa. Previous identification guides for sea snakes of the Persian Gulf and its adjacent waters in the Gulf of Oman were based on old data and confined mostly to written descriptions. Therefore, a series of field surveys were carried out in 2013 and 2014 through Iranian coastal waters of both gulfs to provide a comprehensive sampling of sea snakes in the area. This paper presents an illustrated and updated checklist and identification tool for sea snakes in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, which are based on new material and a review of the literature. This checklist includes ten species of marine hydrophiines, of which one, Microcephalophis cantoris (Günther, 1864), is a new record for the area. All specimens examined herein are deposited and available at the Zoological Museum of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman province, Iran.