Rhinella marina
Cane Toad

The natural range of Rhinella marina 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). Rhinella marina 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)

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

Rhinella marina 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. Rhinella marina 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. Rhinella marina, like other nocturnal species, has horizontal pupils. Rhinella marina 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).

Males congregate in temporary or permanent still or slow moving water and call for mates. More than one male may fertilize the eggs of a single female, and a particularly successful males may fertilize the eggs of multiple females in a breeding season. (Bureau of Rural Sciences, 1998)

Rhinella marina is able to reproduce nearly year round. The females are able to lay eggs after their second year. Eggs are laid in long jelly-like strings on rocks, debris, or emergent vegetation; in excess of 30,000 eggs at a time. The eggs hatch in 2 to 7 days. (Bureau of Rural Sciences, 1998)

Once the eggs are fertilized and arrayed in the water, there is no further parental care.

Rhinella marina 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)

Rhinella marina 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)