Abstract: As nationally protected wildlife in China, sea snakes have long suffered from a chronic insufficiency of updated information regarding their public research and spatial distribution, resulting in a lack of spatial evidence to support the management of critical habitats and biodiversity hotspots. This study integrated systematic literature retrieval and thematic statistics from both Chinese and English databases (up to January 2026), and employed MaxEnt ecological niche modeling based on GBIF and OBIS distribution records to identify sea snake biodiversity hotspots, protected area coverage, and multi-source pressure exposure patterns. Results indicate that 16sea snake species are recorded in Chinese waters; regarding risk assessment, although the IUCN frequently classifies these species as Least Concern (LC), domestic assessment and management levels are relatively higher (6species as Near Threatened NT and 2 as Data Deficient DD in the China Red List, with all 16species listed as Class II National Key Protected Wildlife), suggesting that global-scale evaluations may underestimate regional risks in Chinese maritime territories. Domestic research exhibits a high degree of imbalance in terms of species and themes, with venom biology accounting for 63.03% (significantly higher than the international average of 27.96%), whereas research on ecological conservation and behavioral life history represents only 0.84% and 4.20%, respectively, which is insufficient to support conservation-oriented risk assessment and decision-making. MaxEnt projections demonstrate that suitable habitats for sea snakes in China are primarily concentrated in the South China Sea and the waters surrounding Taiwan Island, China, with core biodiversity hotspots covering an area of 1.51×10⁴ km², mainly distributed across the South China Sea islands and the coastal regions of Hainan and Taiwan, China. Existing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) provide limited coverage of core hotspots (only 8.28% coverage), and among the 16species, only Hydrophis platurus, Hydrophis ornatus, and Hydrophis peroniireach the conservation target. Multi-source pressure assessments further reveal that the synergy of fishing, shipping, and coastline development, compounded by climatic risks such as ocean acidification and sea surface temperature anomalies, has resulted in high exposure levels for the habitats of certain species. This research provides a quantitative basis for the identification of critical sea snake habitats, the delineation of priority conservation areas, and the filling of conservation gaps in Chinese waters.