Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Schneider, 1799)
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Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Schneider, 1799) The native range of the Asian common toad Duttaphrynus melanostictus stretches from northern Pakistan through Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, southern China, Myanmar, Laos, Viet Nam, Thailand, Cambodia to Malaysia, Singapore and parts of Indonesia. It has been introduced to Maluka, Papua and Sulawesi (1), reported in Timor Leste (2) and Madagascar (3). The Asian toad is a nocturnal terrestrial species found from sea-level to 2000 m in temperate, tropical and sub-tropical habitats. Breeding occurs in still ponds and water bodies and slow moving rivers. They are also known to breed close to the sea with tadpoles able to tolerate up-to 1% salinity (2). Asian common toads secrete a milky toxin and can cause itching; toad consumption is known to cause serious illness and sometimes death (2). The Asian common toad has been intercepted at Australian borders. There are concerns that it has the capacity to spread rapidly and could have impacts similar to the Cane toad Rhinella marina. This species has been intercepted at Australian borders. A Pest risk assessment undertaken in Australia found that its introduction poses a high ecological risk to large parts of Australia with suitable climate. There are reports that it competes with and displaces the endemic Ingerophrynus biporcatus in Indonesia (4). In Madagascar the Asian common toad is currently known to occur in an area of around 98 sq kms. There are fears that it could have severe ecological impacts on amphibian prey species. While amphibian Photo credit: Lokionly via Wikipedia Commons eradication has not been undertaken on a landscape scale, a feasibility study (3) undertaken for a possible eradication recommends that “development of eradication methods proceed in a two-stage process thus evaluating the viability of methodologies before advancing to employing those practices at the landscape scale” (3) References (1)Djoko Iskandar, Mumpuni. 2004. Ingerophrynus biporcatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004 (2)McClelland P., J .T. Reardon, F. Kraus, C.J. Raxworthy and C. Randrianantoandro. Asian Toad Eradication Feasibility Report for Madagascar. 2015. Te Anau, New Zealand. 7 (3)Peter Paul van Dijk, Djoko Iskandar, Michael Wai Neng Lau, Gu Huiqing, Geng Baorong, Lue Kuangyang, Chou Wenhao, Yuan Zhigang, Bosco Chan, Sushil Dutta, Robert Inger, Kelum Manamendra-Arachchi, Muhammad Sharif Khan. 2004. Duttaphrynus melanostictus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (4)The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010. Pest Risk Assessment Asian Spiny Toad Bufo mealnosictus Click here to view archives of previous weeks’ species
Transcript of Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Schneider, 1799)
Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Schneider, 1799)The native range of the Asian common toad Duttaphrynus melanostictus stretches from northern Pakistan through Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, southern China, Myanmar, Laos, Viet Nam, Thailand, Cambodia to Malaysia, Singapore and parts of Indonesia. It has been introduced to Maluka, Papua and Sulawesi (1), reported in Timor Leste (2) and Madagascar (3). The Asian toad is a nocturnal terrestrial species found from sea-level to 2000 m in temperate, tropical and sub-tropical habitats. Breeding occurs in still ponds and water bodies and slow moving rivers. They are also known to breed close to the sea with tadpoles able to tolerate up-to 1% salinity (2).Asian common toads secrete a milky toxin and can cause itching; toad consumption is known to cause serious illness and sometimes death (2). The Asian common toad has been intercepted at Australian borders. There are concerns that it has the capacity to spread rapidly and could have impacts similar to the Cane toad Rhinella marina. This species has been intercepted at Australian borders. A Pest risk assessment undertaken in Australia found that its introduction poses a high ecological risk to large parts of Australia with suitable climate. There are reports that it competes with and displaces the endemic Ingerophrynus biporcatus in Indonesia (4).In Madagascar the Asian common toad is currently known to occur in an area of around 98 sq kms. There are fears that it could have severe ecological impacts on amphibian prey species. While amphibian
Photo credit: Lokionly via Wikipedia Commons
eradication has not been undertaken on a landscape scale, a feasibility study (3) undertaken for a possible eradication recommends that “development of eradication methods proceed in a two-stage process thus evaluating the viability of methodologies before advancing to employing those practices at the landscape scale” (3)
References(1)Djoko Iskandar, Mumpuni. 2004. Ingerophrynus biporcatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004
(2)McClelland P., J .T. Reardon, F. Kraus, C.J. Raxworthy and C. Randrianantoandro. Asian Toad Eradication Feasibility Report for Madagascar. 2015. Te Anau, New Zealand. 7
(3)Peter Paul van Dijk, Djoko Iskandar, Michael Wai Neng Lau, Gu Huiqing, Geng Baorong, Lue Kuangyang, Chou Wenhao, Yuan Zhigang, Bosco Chan, Sushil Dutta, Robert Inger, Kelum Manamendra-Arachchi, Muhammad Sharif Khan. 2004. Duttaphrynus melanostictus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
(4)The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010. Pest Risk Assessment Asian Spiny Toad Bufo mealnosictus Click here to view archives of previous weeks’ species
