Boulengerina annulata or the Banded Water Cobra is a species of water cobra

Boulengerina

Boulengerina is a genus of elapid snakes known commonly as water cobras, so named because of their semi-aquatic nature. The genus has two recognized species, which are found in central and southern Africa...

 found in Africa. It is a secretive snake and is rarely seen by people. They are found only in Western and Central Africa. The species is one of the two species of water cobras in the world. The other one being the Christy’s water cobra (Boulengerina christyi)

Description

It is a large cobra

Cobra

Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...

 with a strong, cylindrical body. It is one of the largest cobras in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, rivalling the Gold's Tree Cobra (Pseudohaje goldii) and the Egyptian cobra

Egyptian cobra

The Egyptian cobra is a species in the genus Naja found in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It is one of the largest Naja species in Africa.- Description :...

 (Naja haje). Adults can grow from 1.4–2.7 m (4.6–8.9 ft). Scales are smooth, indicating the largely aquatic life of this species. It has a small, broad, round head and a pair of large eyes. Body colors are mostly glossy brown, grayish brown, or reddish brown with black bands all along the body for the subspecies found in Western Africa, while the Central Africa subspecies has bands limited to the neck of the snake. The belly is pale yellow, while the tail is wholly black.

Distribution and habitat

It is largely aquatic and rarely found far away from water. It can be found in Western Africa, Central Africa and along the Congo basin, inhabiting rivers, streams, lakes, swamps. It is also commonly found in lowland forests, and occasionally on open beaches or sandbars.

Behavior

It is more active during daytime than at night, though it can be seen hunting at night. It is a secretive species and is seldom encountered by humans. When threatened, it may rear its head and spread a narrow hood, hissing loudly. It is not an aggressive species compared to the Egyptian cobra. It will only bite when provoked. It will try to escape and dives in to the water when it senses danger. It can dive to more than 7.5 metres (24.6 ft) in depth and can remain submerged for more than 10 minutes at a time.

Venom

The venom of this species is not well studied, but it is believed that the venom is dangerously neurotoxic

Neurotoxicity

Neurotoxicity occurs when the exposure to natural or artificial toxic substances, which are called neurotoxins, alters the normal activity of the nervous system in such a way as to cause damage to nervous tissue. This can eventually disrupt or even kill neurons, key cells that transmit and process...

, like that of most elapidae

Elapidae

Elapidae is a family of venomous snakes found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, terrestrially in Asia, Australia, Africa, North America and South America and aquatically in the Pacific and Indian Oceans...

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