Chaunus marinus (Linnaeus 1758)

Barrio-Amorós, César L. & Brewer-Carías, Charles, 2010, Venezuelan Guayana, with the description of five new species, Zootaxa 1942, pp. 1-68 : 17

Chaunus marinus (Linnaeus 1758)

Cane Toad, Sapo común, Tururu

Camp V. 7–9 March 2002, 26 March 2002. No specimens collected .

At least in Venezuela, this widespread species is highly variable in adult size. We observed several females in southern Venezuela (Santa María de Erebato, Canaracuni) of at least 220 mm SVL, whereas in northern Venezuela (the Coastal Range, the Andes, the Llanos) females seldom exceed an SVL of 160 mm. This toad is common in Canaracuni, where males were calling on dry nights. Reproductive activity ceased during a week of rains and resumed after the rains. We observed amplectant pairs, females laying eggs, and recently metamorphosed toadlets. The Ye’kwana name is onomatopoeic. The ye’kwana name of R. guttatus is Kawau, as noted previously, and that of C. marinus is Tururu, in contrast to the names noted by La Marca (in Gorzula and Señaris 1999), who probably confused both terms, naming Cawau to C. marinus and Tududu to R. guttatus .