Spitting cobra refers to any one of several species of cobras that have the ability to spit or eject venom from their mouth when defending themselves against predators. The spit venom is harmless to intact skin. However, it can cause permanent blindness if introduced to the eye and left untreated (causing chemosis and corneal swelling).
Despite their name(, these snakes do not actually spit their venom. They rather spray the venom, using muscular contractions upon the venom glands. The muscles squeeze the glands and force the venom out the forward facing holes at the tip of the fang. At the same time that the venom leaves the fang tip, a large gust of air is expelled from the lung which aerosolizes the venom and propels it forward. When cornered, some species can "spit" their venom up to a distance of two meters. While spitting is typically their primary form of defense, all spitting cobras are also capable of delivering venom through a bite as well. Most species' venom exhibit significant hemotoxic effects, along with more typical neurotoxic effects of other cobra species.
West African Brown Spitting Cobra (Naja katiensis)
Other spitting species
Some non-spitting cobras have been noted to spit occasionally. Certain, predominantly non-spitting, Asian cobras do have the spitting tendency.[citation needed] The Rinkhals cobra (Hemachatus haemachatus) is another elapid species, which while not belonging to the Cobra genus Naja, is closely related, and is capable of spitting venom.
References
Greene, Harry W. (1997) Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.
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