Marine Toad Factfile
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Scientific Name : Bufo marinus
World Distribution
Native to Central and South America, these toads have been introduced to other parts of the world, including Florida, Caribbean island and Australia.
Habitat
The natural habitat of the marine toad is forest close to water. However, they are very adaptable and able to live in many different sorts of habitats.
Feeding
They feed on a variety of small creatures - mainly invertibrates such as insects and slugs, but also things like mice, frogs and lizards. In Australia they will steal cat or dog food if they can!
Predators
In Central and South America, where these toads belong, they are eaten by many different animals, including caimans, snakes and catfish. In Australia not many animals eat them because they have not developed resistance to the poison that marine toads produce.
Breeding
Once a year the female toad finds some water and lays many thousands of eggs in long strings of clear jelly. In 2 - 7 days they hatch into tadpoles that grow to 2 cm long before developing into toadlets. When it is mating time, male toads hang around in the water and call out to the females.