Bufo marinus
cane toad
(Also: marine toad)

The natural range of Bufo marinus is from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas south to the Central Amazon and southeastern Peru. This toad has been introduced into the Caribbean Islands, South Florida (Key West and Stock islands, Tampa Bay, Hillsborough, Dade and Broward counties), the Hawaiian islands, and Australia's east coast (East Queensland and Coastal New South Wales). Bufo marinus has been called one of the 100 worst invasive species worldwide by the Invasive Species Specialist Group. (Aguirre and Poss, 1999; Cameron, 2002; Invasive Species Specialist Group, 2005)

Bufo marinus is a tropical species that prefers forested areas with semi-permanent water nearby (Cogger 1983). (Cogger, 1983)

Bufo marinus has a grey olive brown dorsal skin with many warts ending in dark brown caps. The ventral skin tends to be a whitish yellow with dark brown speckles or mottles and is granular. Bufo marinus possesses huge paratoid glands stretching from the anterior side of the tympanum to halfway down the back. A high bony ridge meets at the snout between the nostrils. Bufo marinus, like other nocturnal species, has horizontal pupils. Bufo marinus can reach a maximum length of 238 millimeters, although generally is approximately 150 to 175 millimeters. (Cogger, 1983)

The eggs hatch between forty-eight hours and one week. The tadpoles tend to be small and black and aggregate in dense numbers. Tadpoles metamorphose into small toadlets identical to the adults in forty-five to fifty-five days (Bureau of Rural Sciences 1998).

Bufo marinus is a relatively long-lived toad, reaching ages up to ten years (Cogger 1983). (Cogger, 1983)

The cane toad sits in an upright position when it moves, it hops in short fast hops. During cold or dry seasons it will remain inactive in shallow excavations beneath ground cover. When confronted by a predator, it is able to secrete bufotoxin from the paratoid and other glands on the back in the form of white viscous fluid. This toxic fluid is largely comprised of cardioactive substances. If a predator ingests these toxins, or they contact mucous membranes, they may cause profuse salivation, twitching, vomiting; shallow breathing and collapse of the hind limbs. This toxin can cause temporary paralysis or even death in some predators, including dogs. (Bureau of Rural Sciences, 1998)

Bufo marinus forages primarily nocturnally in mature forests and roadways. It feeds on ants, beetles, and earwigs in southern Florida, but has been found with dragonflies, grasshoppers, truebugs, crustaceans, gastropods, plant matter and even dog and cat food in their stomachs (Krakauer 1968). (Krakauer, 1968)

This toad is considered the most widely-introduced amphibian species in the world. People have tried to use it to control insects such as the greybacked cane beetle, Lepidoderma albohirtum which threatened sugar cane production. However, there is no evidence that it has controlled any pest in Australia and it is now considered a pest species itself in its introduced range of Australia and on Pacific and Caribbean Islands. It preys on and outcompetes native amphibians and also causes predator declines, since these predators have no natural immunity to the bufotoxin it secretes. (Bureau of Rural Sciences 1998, Aguirre and Poss 1999). (Aguirre and Poss, 1999; Bureau of Rural Sciences, 1998)

In their native range cane toads are common, and not considered in need of special conservation efforts. Cane toads are considered one of the world's top 100 most widely-introduced species. Where they have been introduced they are considered pests, and targets of extermination efforts. (Invasive Species Specialist Group, 2005)