Bufo marinus : Marine Toad

Origin: Northern South America.

Colonized areas: Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Caribbean Islands, Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Micronesia, the Cook Islands, the Fiji Islands, the Salomon Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Egypt and Mauritania.

Method of colonization: Voluntary human introduction to help control insect pests in sugar plantations (the reason it is often called the Cane Toad in English) and other crops.

Impacts: Competes for food and habitat with local amphibians... when not eating them! One of the world's largest toads, it kills numerous house pets (dogs, cats) and wild predators (snakes, lizards) when they ingest its highly toxic secretions.

Rate of reproduction: The female can lay 8,000 to 35,000 eggs per year.

Obstacles to eradication: Longevity (10 to 40 years), voracity and absence of natural predators.