Monocled Cobra

The monocled cobra (Naja kaouthia), also called monocellate cobra and Indian spitting cobra, is a venomous cobra species widespread across South and Southeast Asia. It is characterized by a distinctive circular or "monocle"-shaped marking on the hood, though the pattern can be highly variable or even absent in some individuals. It occupies a wide range of habitats, including forests, agricultural land, and areas near human settlements. It is responsible for a significant proportion of snakebite incidents and fatalities in its range, due to its potent neurotoxic venom and frequent proximity to human settlements. Some populations of the monocled cobra have the ability to spit venom with notable accuracy, though not all individuals exhibit this behavior.

Taxonomy

The scientific name Naja kaouthia was proposed by René Lesson in 1831, when he described the monocled cobra as a beautiful snake that is distinct from the spectacled cobra, with 188 ventral scales and 53 pairs of caudal scales.

Since then, several monocled cobras were described under different scientific names:

In 1834, John Edward Gray published Thomas Hardwicke's first illustration of a monocled cobra under the trinomial Naja tripudians var. fasciata.

In 1839, Theodore Edward Cantor described a brownish monocled cobra with numerous faint yellow transverse stripes and a hood marked with a white ring under the binomial Naja larvata, found in Bombay, Calcutta, and Assam.

Several varieties of monocled cobras were described under the binomial Naja tripudians between 1895 and 1913:

N. j. var. scopinucha 1895

N. j. var. unicolor 1876

N. j. var. viridis 1913

N. j. var. sagittifera 1913

In 1940, Malcolm Arthur Smith classified the monocled cobra as a subspecies of the spectacled cobra under the trinomial Naja naja kaouthia. Reclassification in the 1990s further distinguished Naja kaouthia from Naja siamensis, a name commonly used in older toxinological research.

Phylogenetic studies of Naja kaouthia in Thailand have demonstrated surprising variation, with one population resulting in the species becoming paraphyletic with other Asiatic cobras.

Description

The monocled cobra has an O-shaped, or monocellate hood pattern, unlike that of the Indian cobra, which has the "spectacle" pattern (two circular ocelli connected by a curved line) on the rear of its hood. The elongated nuchal ribs enable a cobra to expand the anterior of the neck into a "hood". Coloration in the young is more constant. The dorsal surface may be yellow, brown, gray, or blackish, with or without ragged or clearly defined cross bands. It can be olivaceous or brownish to black above with or without a yellow or orange-colored, O-shaped mark on the hood. It has a black spot on the lower surface of the hood on either side, and one or two black cross-bars on the belly behind it. The rest of the belly is usually the same color as the back, but paler. As age advances, the snake becomes paler, wherein the adult is brownish or olivaceous. A pair of fixed anterior fangs is present. The largest fang recorded measured 6.78 mm (0.678 cm). Fangs are moderately adapted for spitting.