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Naja sputatrix BOIE, 1827

IUCN Red List - Naja sputatrix - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaElapidae, Colubroidea, Caenophidia, Alethinophidia, Serpentes, Squamata (snakes)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Indonesian Cobra
G: Javanische Speikobra
Indonesian: Ular kobra 
SynonymColuber castaneus OPPEL — BOIE (nomen nudum)
Elaps fuscus MERREM 1820 (nomen oblitum)
Naja sputatrix BOIE 1827: 557
Naja leptocoryphaea BERTHOLD 1840: 71
Naja tripudians sondaica SCHLEGEL 1844
Naia tripudians var. sputatrix — BOULENGER 1896: 384
Naja naja sputatrix — STEJNEGER 1907
Naja tripudians sputatrix — DE ROOIJ 1917
Naja naja sputatrix — KOPSTEIN 1938
Naja kaouthia sputatrix — DERANIYAGALA 1960 (part)
Naja naja sputatrix — HARDING & WELCH 1980
Naja sputatrix — WÜSTER & THORPE 1989
Naja sputatrix — WELCH 1994: 93
Naja (Naja) sputatrix — WALLACH et al. 2009
Naja sputatrix — WALLACH et al. 2014: 463 
DistributionIndonesia (Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Komodo, Alor, Lomblen, Sulawesi)

Type locality: Java, Indonesia  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: RMNH (C.G.C. Reinwardt).
Lectotype: RMNH.RENA.1330 [sondaica] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 2411 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentVenomous!

Synonymy: The name "Naja naja sputatrix" was formerly used for populations of several species of Asiatic Naja. See Denzer et al. 2025 for an analysis of the synonymy of N. sputatrix.

Distribution: Reported as Naja naja for Komodo by AUFFENBERG 1980. The latest record of this species from Sulawesi is from KOPSTEIN 1936. DE LANG & VOGEL (2005) thus consider this species as doubtful for this island. Not found on the Malyan peninsula as reported by MANTHEY & GROSSMANN (1997). For a map see Shi et al. 2022: 3 (Fig. 1).

Habitat: partly arboreal (Harrington et al. 2018). 
EtymologyThe specific epithet, sputatrix, comes from the Latin word spūtātor (which itself comes from spūtō "to spit, to spit out") meaning "spitter". It is a reference to the venom spitting characteristics of the species. 
References
  • Auffenberg W 1980. The herpetofauna of Komodo, with notes on adjacent areas. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 25 (2): 39-156 - get paper here
  • Berthold,A.A. 1840. Ueber verschiedene neue oder seltene Amphibienarten. Abh. Ges. Wiss. Göttingen 1: 47-72 [1842 ?]
  • Boie, F. 1827. Bemerkungen über Merrem's Versuch eines Systems der Amphibien, 1. Lieferung: Ophidier. Isis von Oken 20: 508-566. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1896. Catalogue of the snakes in the British Museum, Vol. 3. London (Taylor & Francis), xiv + 727 pp. - get paper here
  • Chowdhury, M. A. W., Müller, J., & Varela, S. 2021. Climate change and the increase of human population will threaten conservation of Asian cobras. Scientific Reports, 11(1): 1-12 - get paper here
  • Das, I. 2012. A Naturalist's Guide to the Snakes of South-East Asia: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. Oxford J, ohn Beaufoy Publishing - get paper here
  • Denzer, W., Dondorp, E., Kaiser, H. & Wüster, W. 2025. Notes on the type series of the Javan Spitting Cobra, Naja sputatrix Boie, 1827, and designation of a lectotype for Naja tripudians sondaica Schlegel, 1844. Zootaxa, 5679 (4), 585–599 - get paper here
  • Glässer-Trobisch, Andrea & Dietmar Trobisch 2023. Bei Reisbauern in Ostjava – auf der Suche nach der Gestreiften Fischnatter (Xenochrophis vittatus). Elaphe 2023 (6): 54
  • Glässer-Trobisch, Andrea & Dietmar Trobisch 2025. Am Fuße des heiligen Berges Penanggungan in Ostjava – auf der Suche nach der Gestreiften Fischnatter, Xenochrophis vittatus, Teil 2. Elaphe 2025 (2): 50-63
  • Harrington, Sean M; Jordyn M de Haan, Lindsey Shapiro, Sara Ruane 2018. Habits and characteristics of arboreal snakes worldwide: arboreality constrains body size but does not affect lineage diversification. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125 (1): 61–71 - get paper here
  • KHOERUNISA, IRA; MIRZA D. KUSRINI, AND ANI MARDIASTUTI 2021. Diversity of snake rescued from residential areas in Greater Jakarta metropolitan area, Indonesia. Media Konservasi 26 (3): 231-238; DOI: 10.29244/medkon.26.3.231-238 - get paper here
  • Kopstein, F. 1938. Ein Beitrag zur Eierkunde und zur Fortpflanzung der Malaiischen Reptilien. Bull. Raffles Mus. No 14: 81-167
  • Lang, Ruud de 2011. The Snakes of the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara), Indonesia. Asian Herpetological Research 2 (1): 46-54 - get paper here
  • Lang, Ruud de 2012. Snakes of the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara), Indonesia. Edition Chimaira, 349 pp. - get paper here
  • Lang, Ruud de 2017. The Snakes of Java, Bali and Surrounding Islands. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 435 pp. - get paper here
  • Lang, Ruud de & G. Vogel 2005. The snakes of Sulawesi. A field guide to the land snakes of Sulawesi with identification keys. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, 25, Frankfurt am Main, 312 pp.
  • Mavromichalis, Johan M.W. & Silvia A. Bloem 1995. A successful breeding of Naja naja sputatrix atra. Litteratura Serpentium 15 (2): 26-30 - get paper here
  • MEGANTARA, E. N., JAUHAN, J., SHANIDA, S. S., HUSODO, T., FAUZI, D. A., HENDRAWAN, R., WULANDARI, I. & YUANSAH, Y. 2022. Herpetofauna distribution in different land cover types of West Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity, 23(6) - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1930. Die Amphibien und Reptilien der Inseln Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa und Flores. Senck. Naturf. Gesell., Frankfurt am Main, Abhandl. 42(3): 117-344.
  • Milto, K. D. 2025. Underestimated Herpetodiversity of Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, West Java, Indonesia. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 32(1), 60-72 - get paper here
  • Milto, Konstantin D.; Yury A. Lukin 2020. A Revised Herpetofauna of Ujung Kulon National Park, West Java, Indonesia. Russian Journal of Herpetology 27 (6): 353-368 - get paper here
  • Otani, S., & Duensser, E. 2024. ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTIONS OF SNAKES DESCRIBED BY BOIE (1826). TAPROBANICA 13 (02): 48–61 - get paper here
  • O’Shea, M. 2018. The Book of Snakes. Ivy Press / Quarto Publishing, London, - get paper here
  • Ramadhan, Nuzul Rizki, Maiser Syaputra, and Endah Wahyuningsih. 2025. Diversity of Species and Morphometrics of Reptiles (Order Squamata) in The Utilization Block of The Kerandangan Tourism Area. (in Indonesian). Jurnal Biologi Tropis 25.2 (2025): 1727-1739 - get paper here
  • Schlegel, H. 1837. Abbildungen neuer oder unvollständig bekannter Amphibien, nach der Natur oder dem Leben entworfen. Düsseldorf (Arnz & Comp.), i-xiv + 141 pp. [1837-1844] - get paper here
  • Shi, S.‐C.; Vogel, G.; Ding, L.; Rao, D.‐Q.; Liu, S.; Zhang, L.; Wu, Z.‐J.; Chen, Z.‐N. 2022. Description of A New Cobra (Naja Laurenti, 1768; Squamata, Elapidae) from China with Designation of a Neotype for Naja atra. Animals 12, 3481 - get paper here
  • Slowinski, Joseph B. and Wolfgang Wüster. 2000. A new cobra (Elapidae: Naja) from Myanmar (Burma). Herpetologica 56 (2): 257-270 - get paper here
  • Smetsers, Peet 1998. Successful breeding of Naja sputatrix, the spitting cobra (white phase). Litteratura Serpentium 18 (1): 4-6 - get paper here
  • Wallach, V.; Wüster, W. & Broadley, D.G. 2009. In praise of subgenera: taxonomic status of cobras of the genus Naja Laurenti (Serpentes: Elapidae). Zootaxa 2236: 26–36 - get paper here
  • Wallach, Van; Kenneth L. Williams , Jeff Boundy 2014. Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. [type catalogue] Taylor and Francis, CRC Press, 1237 pp.
  • Wüster W. 1996. The status of the cobras of the genus Naja Laurenti, 1768 (Reptilia: Serpentes: Elapidae) on the island of Sulawesi. The Snake 27 (2): 85-90.
  • Wüster, W.; Thorpe,R.S. 1989. Population affinities of the Asiatic cobra (Naja naja) species complex in south-east Asia: reliability and random resampling. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 36: 391-409. - get paper here
  • Wüster, W.; Thorpe,R.S. 1991. Asiatic cobras: Systematics and snakebite. Experientia 47: 205-209 - get paper here
  • Wüster, Wolfgang 1993. A century of confusion: Asiatic cobras revisited. Vivarium 4 (4): 14-18
  • Zonneveld, J. P., Zaim, Y., Rizal, Y., Aswan, Hascaryo, A., Larick, R., Ciochon, R. 2018. Predation of the Javan Spitting Cobra (Naja sputatrix) on a Painted Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis cf. D. pictus) in the Sangiran Area, Central Java, Indonesia. Captive & Field Herpetology 2 (1): 33-37 - get paper here
 
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