A new cheilostome bryozoan Electra omanensis n. sp. is described in Southern Oman (Dhofar Region, Arabian Sea) and is also the first description of any bryozoan from this area. The new species morphologically most resembles Electra indica (Menon and Nair (Mar Biol Ass India 17:553–579, 1975), but differs in (1) colony shape – colonies consist of long narrow branching strips, and (2) in the shape of the gymnocystal spines. The combination of these features is sufficiently distinctive and allows discriminating the new species from all other known species in this genus. Genetic analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial ribosomal genes also support separate species status for this species of Electra.