''Naja ashei'', commonly known as Ashe's spitting cobra or the giant spitting cobra, is a species of

venomous snake ''Venomous snakes'' are species of the suborder Serpentes that are capable of producing venom, which they use for killing prey, for defense, and to assist with digestion of their prey. The venom is typically delivered by injection using hollow ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Elapidae Elapidae (, commonly known as elapids , from , variant of "sea-fish") is a family of snakes characterized by their permanently erect fangs at the front of the mouth. Most elapids are venomous, with the exception of the genus '' Emydocephalus ...

. The species is native to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. It is the world's largest species of

spitting cobra A "spitting" cobra is any of several species of cobra that can intentionally, defensively shoot their snake venom, venom directly from their fangs. This substance has two functions, with the first being as venom that can be absorbed via the vict ...

Etymology and taxonomy

The generic name, ''Naja'', is a Latinisation of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word ' (), meaning "serpent". The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

, ''ashei'', honors the late James Ashe, who founded the Bio-Ken Snake Farm and was one of the first experts to suggest ''N. ashei'' was a new species.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Naja ashei'', p. 12). Differences from other spitting cobras were realized in the 1960s, but ''N. ashei'' was initially regarded by most as merely a brown-coloured

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form may also refer to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter dat ...

of the black-necked spitting cobra ('' N. nigricollis''). Thus, ''N. ashei'' was only classified as a distinct

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in 2007, by

Wolfgang Wüster Wolfgang Wüster (born 1964) is a herpetologist and Professor in Zoology at Bangor University, UK. Wüster attained his bachelor's degree at the University of Cambridge in 1985 and his doctorate at the University of Aberdeen in 1990. His primar ...

(

Bangor University Bangor University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal charter, Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 ...

, Wales) and Donald Broadley (Biodiversity Foundation for Africa). Royjan Taylor (Director of the Bio-Ken

Snake Farm A snake farm is a facility that houses and breeds a wide variety of snakes, often for the purpose of research and the collection of snake venom, venom for the creation of antivenom. Many snake farms are primarily tourist attractions. Notable sna ...

Watamu Watamu is a small town located approximately 105 km north of Mombasa and about 15 km south of Malindi on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It lies on a small headland, between the Blue Lagoon and Watamu Bay. Its main economic activities ...

, Kenya) was instrumental in providing specimens, among them the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

. The giant spitting cobra is most closely related to the Mozambique spitting cobra (''N. mossambica''), which with this species forms a

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to ''N. nigricollis''.

Description

''Naja ashei'', the largest spitting cobra, averages around in total length (including tail). The largest specimen of this species to date, caught in Kenya, was in total length. Some ''N. nigricollis'' may also reach such sizes, but this is very exceptional, whereas on the Kenyan coast, specimens of ''N. ashei'' of more than are not uncommon. This ''Naja'' species is very heavily built with a big head. It's a very aggressive spitting cobra that doesn't hesitate to spit when it feels cornered. It may also spit in copious amounts for hours without running out of venom immediately to spit. Its colour varies in different shades of brown from light grey through pale mustard to dark brown. It is pale in colour along the belly, sometimes with slight speckling or blotches, with a dark brown throat band. It has 17 to 25 midbody

dorsal scale In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales. Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publis ...

rows, 176 to 219 ventrals, and 51 to 69 subcaudals, with an entire anal scale across the vent.

Distribution and habitat

The giant spitting cobra is found in eastern and northeastern Africa, in the dry lowlands of northern and eastern

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and similar habitats in northeastern

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, southern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and southern

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. (''Naja ashei'', new species).

Venom

The venom of ''N. ashei'' is very similar in composition to that of other spitting cobras, including the black-necked spitting cobra (''N. nigricollis'') and the red spitting cobra (''N. pallida''), which are both found in the same areas. It consists of postsynaptic

neurotoxin Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nervous tissue, nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insult (medical), insultsSpencer 2000 that can adversely affect function ...

s and

cytotoxin Cytotoxicity is the quality of being toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium ...

s. However, ''N. ashei'' is capable of injecting a much larger volume of venom in a single bite compared to the others. A single specimen milked at Bio-Ken Snake Farm in 2004 produced a wet venom yield of 6.2 ml, weighed 7.1 g and contained nearly 3 g of

toxin A toxin is a naturally occurring poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. They occur especially as proteins, often conjugated. The term was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919), derived ...

s. In absence of dedicated research, recommended treatment of bites is, as for all true cobras, with the appropriate

antivenom Antivenom, also known as antivenin, venom antiserum, and antivenom immunoglobulin, is a specific treatment for envenomation. It is composed of antibodies and used to treat certain venomous bites and stings. Antivenoms are recommended only if ...

(SAVP polyvalent from South African Vaccine Producers). The dosage may need to be higher than for the average ''N. nigricollis'' bite. First aid treatment for venom in the eyes is immediate irrigation with water or any bland liquid - failure to do so may result in permanent blindness. Whether bitten or spat at, the patient should be seen as soon as possible by a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

. No available data suggest this species' toxins differ clinically from those of other spitting cobras, except perhaps by the effects of greater dosages, on average. Spitting cobra venom has rather low systemic toxicity, meaning with appropriate treatment, survival of bitten persons is very likely. A strong

necrotizing Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. The term "necrosis" came about in the mid-19th century and is commonly attributed to German pathologist Rudolf Virchow, who is ...

effect (kills tissue around the wound) means survivors may be disfigured. If a jet of venom gets into the eyes and is not treated immediately, blindness (due to destruction of the

cornea The cornea is the transparency (optics), transparent front part of the eyeball which covers the Iris (anatomy), iris, pupil, and Anterior chamber of eyeball, anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and Lens (anatomy), lens, the cornea ...

) is likely; even in patients treated with antivenom,

amputation Amputation is the removal of a Limb (anatomy), limb or other body part by Physical trauma, trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as cancer, malign ...

may become necessary if a full dose of a large spitting cobra's venom is received.

References

External links

*The Reptile Database
''Naja ashei''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q137638 ashei Snakes of Africa Reptiles of East Africa Reptiles described in 2007