Because of its voracious appetite, the cane toad has been introduced to many regions of the Pacific and the Caribbean islands as a method of agricultural pest control.

[5] Linnaeus based the specific epithet marina on an illustration by Dutch zoologist Albertus Seba, who mistakenly believed the cane toad to inhabit both terrestrial and marine environments.

[2][3] Though controversial (with many traditional herpetologists still using Bufo marinus) the binomial Rhinella marina is gaining in acceptance with such bodies as the IUCN,[1] Encyclopaedia of Life,[12] Amphibian Species of the World [2] and increasing numbers of scientific publications adopting its usage.

Since 2016, cane toad populations native to Mesoamerica and northwestern South America are sometimes considered to be a separate species, Rhinella horribilis.

[14] Cane toads have been confused with the giant burrowing frog (Heleioporus australiacus), because both are large and warty in appearance; however, the latter can be readily distinguished from the former by its vertical pupils and its silver-grey (as opposed to gold) irises.

[15] Juvenile cane toads may be confused with species of the genus Uperoleia, but their adult colleagues can be distinguished by the lack of bright colouring on the groin and thighs.

[18] Studies of the genome confirm its evolutionary origins in northern part of South America and its close genetic relation to Rhinella diptycha and other similar species of the genus.

[20] A recent split in the species into further subspecies may have occurred approximately 2.7 million years ago following the isolation of population groups by the rising Venezuelan Andes.

[34] The cane toad inhabits open grassland and woodland, and has displayed a "distinct preference" for areas modified by humans, such as gardens and drainage ditches.

[37] This rapid growth is important for their survival; in the period between metamorphosis and subadulthood, the young toads lose the toxicity that protected them as eggs and tadpoles, but have yet to fully develop the parotoid glands that produce bufotoxin.

[47] They eat a wide range of material; in addition to the normal prey of small rodents, other small mammals,[22] reptiles, other amphibians, birds, and even bats and a range of invertebrates (such as ants, beetles, earwigs, dragonflies, grasshoppers, true bugs, crustaceans, and gastropods),[48] they also eat plants, dog food, cat food,[48] feces,[22] and household refuse.

Pets showing excessive drooling, extremely red gums, head-shaking, crying, loss of coordination, and/or convulsions require immediate veterinary attention.

[25] Bufotenin, one of the chemicals excreted by the cane toad, is classified as a schedule 9 drug under Australian law, alongside heroin and LSD.

[55] In addition to releasing toxin, the cane toad is capable of inflating its lungs, puffing up, and lifting its body off the ground to appear taller and larger to a potential predator.

The Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation, along with the University of Sydney, developed these sausage-shaped baits as a tool in order to train native animals not to eat the toads.

[56][57][58] Young cane toads that aren't lethal upon ingestion have also been used to teach native predators avoidance, namely yellow-spotted monitors.

[61] Predators outside the cane toad's native range include the rock flagtail (Kuhlia rupestris), some species of catfish (order Siluriformes), some species of ibis (subfamily Threskiornithinae),[60] the whistling kite (Haliastur sphenurus), the rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster), the black rat (Rattus rattus) and the water monitor (Varanus salvator).

[69] The cane toad is native to the Americas, and its range stretches from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas to the central Amazon and southeastern Peru, and some of the continental islands near Venezuela (such as Trinidad and Tobago).

[75] Despite its failure to control the rodents, the cane toad was introduced to Puerto Rico in the early 20th century in the hope that it would counter a beetle infestation ravaging the sugarcane plantations.

The Puerto Rican scheme was successful and halted the economic damage caused by the beetles, prompting scientists in the 1930s to promote it as an ideal solution to agricultural pests.

[88] After this initial release, the Commonwealth Department of Health decided to ban future introductions until a study was conducted into the feeding habits of the toad.

[87][89] The toads became firmly established in Queensland, increasing exponentially in number and extending their range into the Northern Territory and New South Wales.

The population of a number of native predatory reptiles has declined, such as the varanid lizards Varanus mertensi, V. mitchelli, and V. panoptes, the land snakes Pseudechis australis and Acanthophis antarcticus, and the crocodile species Crocodylus johnstoni; in contrast, the population of the agamid lizard Amphibolurus gilberti—known to be a prey item of V. panoptes—has increased.

[93] The cane toad has also been linked to decreases in northern quolls in the southern region of Kakadu National Park and even their local extinction.

[108] The cane toad was first introduced deliberately into the Philippines in 1930 as a biological control agent of pests in sugarcane plantations, after the success of the experimental introductions into Puerto Rico.

After considering the possible side effects, the national government of Fiji decided to release the toad in 1953, and 67 specimens were subsequently imported from Hawaiʻi.

[115][116] Initial reports argued the toads were effective in reducing the levels of cutworms and sweet potato yields were thought to be improving.

[119] The cane toad naturally exists in South Texas, but attempts (both deliberate and accidental) have been made to introduce the species to other parts of the country.

[130] More recently, the toad's toxins have been used in a number of new ways: bufotenin has been used in Japan as an aphrodisiac and a hair restorer, and in cardiac surgery in China to lower the heart rates of patients.

[131] Other modern applications of the cane toad include pregnancy testing,[129] as pets,[132] laboratory research,[133] and the production of leather goods.