Bufo marinus (Bufonidae)

The so-called cane toad (Bufo marinus) is a large brown to grayish-brown toad with warty skin, usually 6-9" in length at maturity, and weighing up to four pounds. Bufo marinus takes approximately one year to reach maturity, and may live from 10-40 years.  The skin of the toad has glands that produce an irritant which can be toxic--even lethal--to other small animals, and cause irritation of eyes and mucus membranes in humans. Cane toads have a wide diet and will eat almost any animal they can fit into their mouths, although their normal prey is insects. 

Species description or overview

Taxonomy & nomenclature

Impacts

Toads poisoning "medical" snakes (video)
Australia's king brown snakes, milked for antivenom production, are eating poisonous cane toads and dying from the toads' toxin (National Geographic news, 6/27/2008).

Invasive predators: A synthesis of the past, present, and future 
Effects of various invasive predators on prey populations are described in a synthesis from USDA APHIS.

Bufo marinus impact information from GISD (ISSG)
Impact information regarding Bufo marinus as an invasive species is provided from the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD). GISD was created and is maintained by IUCN's Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG).

Dispersal and pathways

Control methods

Images

Bufo marinus - cane toad (Bufonidae - Anura)
Images, web sites, news articles, blog entries, videos, and books are compiled by google on this Reptiles and Amphibians of Hawaii site.

Distribution

Invasive species in the Pacific: A technical review and draft regional strategy (2000) 
The status of invasive plants, vertebrates, arthropods, molluscs, and crustaceans, and options for a regional invasive species strategy for the South Pacific are presented in this series of articles from the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, 2000.

Bufo marinus worldwide distribution from GISD (ISSG)
Worldwide distribution information about Bufo marinus is provided from the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD). GISD was created and is maintained by IUCN's Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG).

Books

In the news

Invasive species: Toad-ally out of control
Bufo marinus, the cane toad, proves how misuse of biological control agents can lead to the catastrophic mismanagement of our natural world. This article recounts how the introduction of 100 toads from Hawaii to Australia to control pests in cane fields has resulted in a national ecological disaster.

Full-text articles

An updated, indexed bibliography of the herpetofauna of Florida
Enge, Kevin M. 2002. An updated, indexed bibliography of the herpetofauna of Florida. Technical report no. 19.

Herpetological inventory in West Hawaii National Parks: Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Puukohola Heiau National Historic Site
Bazzano, Jason. 2007. Herpetological inventory in West Hawaii National Parks: Puuhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Puukohola Heiau National Historic Site. Technical Report 141. Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Honolulu. 30 pp. illus.

Bibliography

Experts

Other resources

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The content of this page is based on information last generated on 29 October 2009 by PT. The template for this page was created on 15 March 2004 by EMS, and was last updated on 20 February 2006 by PT.