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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
marine
toad, cane toad, giant toad, Bufo toad |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Amphibia |
| ORDER: |
Anura |
| FAMILY: |
Bufonidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Bufo
(toad) marinus (marine) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Extremely
large, brown toad with dry, bumpy skin; huge parotoid
glands located from behind the eyes down the side
of the body |
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| SIZE: |
Averages
10-15 cm (4-6 in) |
| FEMALE |
Typically
larger than males |
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| WEIGHT: |
May
exceed 1 kg (2 lb) |
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| DIET: |
Feeds
on a variety of small animals including insects,
lizards, mammals, birds, and other amphibians; will
on rare occasions also eat plant matter, and carrion |
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| INCUBATION: |
3
days |
| CLUTCH
SIZE |
30,000
eggs |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
2-4
years |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
Averages
5 years |
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| RANGE: |
Native
to Central and South America; introduced into Australia,
Hawaii, Philippines, Puerto Rico, and South Florida |
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| HABITAT: |
Found
in a wide variety of tropical habitats usually near
a source of water |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
No
data |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Not
listed |
| CITES |
Not
listed |
| USFWS |
Not
listed |
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| 1. |
Marine
toads have the distinction of being one of the only
known amphibians to eat plant matter and carrion
as adults. The majority of amphibian species are
dependant upon live prey as food. |
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| 2. |
The marine toad is unusual from other members of
the Bufonidae family in that it is known to eat
stationary objects whereas most members of this
family locate prey by movement. |
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| 3. |
The toxicity of the poison from the marine toad
can be lethal to small and medium-sized animals;
it also can have negative effects on species as
large as dogs. The poison acts strictly as a defensive
adaptation. |
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| 4. |
The
number of eggs they lay is immense, numbering over
40,000 for some large females. This amount, which
can be laid in a variety of permanent and temporary
bodies of water including brackish water, overwhelms
predatory species so they are not able to consume
all of them. This ensures that some young will survive. |
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| 5. |
In
general, frogs have smooth skin while toads have
textured skin. |
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| These
toads were introduced to new habitats all over the
world in order to help control an invasive pest,
the sugar cane beetle. This introduction was ill
thought out and allowed the prolific marine toads
uncontrolled access to new tropical and subtropical
habitats worldwide.
Usually, we are concerned with a decrease in species'
populations, but with marine toads and other introduced
species too many is the problem. Introduced species
come from habitats where their populations are
important to their ecosystem, but when these animals
or plants are introduced into an ecosystem that
does not have suitable predators, they upset a
very delicate balance and can be extremely destructive.
Often, they end up eradicating less aggressive
indigenous species. In the case of marine toads
the species they displace are often the smaller
toads and frogs, such as the southern toad and
oak toad. Most introduced species find that fitting
into a healthy ecosystem is very difficult so
instead they move into ecosystems that have already
been altered by human influence.
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| Conant,
Roger,and J.T. Collins. Peterson Field Guides:
Reptiles and Amphibians. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Co., 1958. |
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Flank, Lenny Jr. Herp Help. New York: Howell
Book House, 1998. |
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Mattison, Chris. Frogs and Toads of the World.
New York: Fact On File Publications, 1987.
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