Naja naja (Linnaeus, 1758)
Spectacled Cobra, Common Cobra, Binocellate Cobra

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Classification

Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Class	Reptilia
Order	Squamata
Family	Elapidae

Status	Common in its area of Distribution.
Distribution	The species is distributed almost all over India up to longitude 90 in Assam. Not found in Kashmir. It is uncommon in regions where the Monocled Cobra is more common, a population overlap is recorded in the West Bengal and North Eastern part of India.
Legal protection	Protected : Schedule -II part II of WLPA-1972
IUCN Status	Not yet assessed for the IUCN Red List
CITES	Appendix -III

 

Other names-
Hindi - Naag(नाग),  Kaala saap(काला साँप), Kaalo(कालो);  Bangla- Gokhra ; Kannada-  Nagarahavu (ನಾಗರಹಾವು ), Nag Havu ;  Malyalam- Moorkan sarpam/ Sarpam ; Tamil - Nalla pamb; Telugu -Nag pamu

General Characteristics:

Length – Adults measure about one meter and the maximum recorded was 2.2 M.  
Dorsal body - Body shape slender with smooth oval shaped scales. Body color includes a number of colors that vary from region to region. Colors include dark yellow, brown, light brown, reddish-brown, black with bluish, reddish & grayish tint etc. Side dorsal scales are larger and clearly oval shaped, on moving towards front they become elongated and pointed.  

The color of the snake depends on its geographical distribution. Maharashtra, whole of South India, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal etc. costal states specimens have color range of yellow and brown. Sometimes dark colored bands are also present. Eastern Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and North Indian specimens are usually dark brown or black in color.  In some specimens a banded pattern on the dorsal body recorded.

 Ventral body - Belly color also has a variety of colors ranging from milky white, yellowish, bluish-white, reddish-white, brownish-white, etc. It depends on the color of the dorsal body. Sometimes dark colored patches are also present on the ventral surface so they look like the ventral scales of a Rat Snake.

Head- Head is broad with shiny smooth scales. The famous hood mark appears when they spread the hood which generally extends from the 20th to 30th ventral. Hood marks may be clearly visible or absent and the size and shape vary. In dark colored specimens (from North India) hood mark becomes faint or vanishes completely in the adult stage. Nostrils are large, pupils round. The swelling on the temporal region is due to the under lying venom glands visible on both sides of the snake's head.

Key characters for identification-
When disturbed or alerted, the cobra’s first reactions will be the lifting of its fore body and spreading of its hood. They do short mock charges and produce loud hissing sounds which are unmistakable identification tips of a Cobra.

common cobra - Hood markings : The hood markings may be present or absent with wide variations of colour, patterns etc. Photo by : Jerin Ephrem , Aditya Joshi

Scalation: Head- 7 Supralabials; 3rd & 4th touches eyes; 3rd Supralabial is significantly larger then rest of frontal supralabials; 1 Preocular which touches posterior Nasal hence Loreal absent; 3 Postocular; Temporals 2+3 or 2+3/4(rarely)

Dorsal- Scales smooth with a range of 17-25 while hood region have 13-37 rows. Specimens of Northern and Central India have lower dorsal rows.
Ventral- 171-197(M) 178-196(F); Anal Undivided (entire)
Subcaudal- 53-67(M) 50-65(F) and divided in Zig-Zag manner with a pointed scale at the end.

Looks like- Banded Racer, Rat Snake, Smooth Snake

Habitat:  It is one of the most common snakes found across India. They seem to be well adapted for a wide variety of habitats as they are commonly found in urban areas, farm lands and forests.   The snake is active during day and night.  It takes shelter in abandoned termite mounds, rat holes, wood piles, under tangled roots of a tree etc. In urban environment they were recorded from electric ducts, crevices in walls, under abandoned heavy furniture, machinery etc. 

Rodents (rats, mice etc.) seems to be the favorite prey base of cobras and they are good pest controllers.  They often prey on frogs, toads, birds and even other snakes including venomous snakes.  The presences of rats near human settlement as pests attract cobras and they manage to live ‘unseen’ in such habitats.
Mating is recorded at the beginning of the summer which varies from Southern to Northern India. Female Cobra lays 10 to 30 eggs (records of 50+ eggs are also available) between March to end of July and the hatchlings come out during the rainy season when food is abundant. Nest guarding by female is   reported in many places.