The Central Asian cobra (Naja oxiana), also called the Caspian cobra, Oxus cobra or Russian cobra is a venomous member of the snake family Elapidae distributed in Central Asia.

Central Asian cobra (Naja oxiana) Image Source: Omid Mozaffari - http://calphotos.berkeley.edu1, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18350378

The species is of moderate to large in length and a heavy-bodied serpent with long cervical ribs which gives high capacity to form a hood. The body of the snake is observed compressed dorsoventrally while sub-cylindrical posteriorly. This species has an averages length of about 3.3 ft. (1 m) and may rarely reach over 4.9 ft. (1.5 m) in length. The skull is elliptically depressed and somewhat distinct from the neck, with a short rounded snout having large nostrils. The eyes are of medium size having round pupils. Dorsally it has smooth scales and is strongly oblique, with the outer 2 – 3 scale rows larger than the rest. 

Young ones tend to be pale having visible dark and light cross-bands of approximately equal width around the body while adults are entirely light to chocolate brown or yellowish, rarely some retain traces of juvenile banding, especially the first few dark ventral bands. There is no hood mark and lateral throat spots in this species. It is oviparous in nature.

The species is distributed in the Trans Caspian region; found Afghanistan, in Turkmenistan, North-Eastern Iran, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tadzhikistan, Northern Pakistan and North-West India (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir). The species is frequently found in arid and semiarid, rocky, shrub or scrub covered foothills at elevation of about 3,000 m.asl.

It is the only cobra species which is found sympatrically with Indian spectacled cobra, N. naja. All other Asiatic cobras can be distinguished from Naja oxiana on the basis of its high ventral and or sub caudal scale counts. Besides specimens of the monocellate cobra (N. kaouthia) with remarkably high ventral and sub caudal scale counts may be distinguished from N. oxiana by the possession of a hood mark, a distinct throat pattern with lateral spots, and a higher number of dorsal scale rows at the level of the 10th ventral. 

Morphological Scalation:

Naja oxiana is an aggressive and bad-tempered serpent if provoked. Though they will try avoiding humans like all serpents as much as they can but once when they feel threatened or cornered they will become viciously aggressive. Even juveniles have a tendency to be very aggressive. Once cornered and provoked, it spread its hood; hiss loud; sway from one side to other and strike repetitively. It is mainly diurnal in nature but it may be crepuscular and nocturnal in some parts of its habitat range during the hottest months (July and August). Beside this species is a good climber, swimmer and often found in water and rarely found too far away from it. It preys on small mammals, amphibians, rodents, toads and frogs, occasionally fish, birds and their eggs.  It is a quick-moving and agile species lives mostly in holes in embankments or trees.

Naja oxiana Image Source:http://knowledgebase.lookseek.com

It is documented that this species is the most venomous species of cobra in the world, slightly ahead of the Philippine cobra, based on a 1992 toxicological study stated in the Indian Journal of Experimental Biology. A amount of small non-enzymatic proteins are found in its venom, containing neurotoxins and cytotoxins, which have been publicized to cause cell death through injury to lysosomes. In addition to this, the venom also contains nucleases, which can cause tissue damage at the site of the bite and may also potentiate systemic toxicity by releasing free purines in situ. 

The bite of this kind may show symptoms such as severe pain and swelling, weakness, drowsiness, ataxia, hypotension, along with severe neurotoxicity, paralysis of throat and limbs, and it may appear in less than one hour after the bite. Without proper medical treatment, signs rapidly exacerbate and death may occur soon after a bite due to respiratory failure. 

Literature Cited:

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Ashraf, M. R., Asif, N., Eric, N. S., Maryam, J., Utpal. S., Tahir, Y., and Abu, S. H. 2019. Molecular phylogenetics of black cobra (Naja naja) in Pakistan. Electronic Journal of Biotechnology - get paper here

Faiz, A. H., Bagaturov, M. F., Hassan, M. U., Tariq, G., Malik, I. U., and Faiz, L. Z. 2018. Distribution of Reptiles in Tolipir National Park, Pakistan. Journal of Bioresource Management, 5 (2). - get paper here

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