Abstract
The desert toad, Scaphiopus couchii, survives 10 months hibernation (during which it does not feed) by utilizing stored lipid reserves predominantly concentrated in coelomic fat bodies. The majority of toads emerging from hibernation have negligible fat bodies, although 4% of uninfected males have enough reserves to survive a further year. Adults of the monogenean parasite, Pseudodiplorchis americanus, infect breeding toads (with a 50% prevalence) and feed upon host blood. In one area of desert in southeastern Arizona, USA, infected male and female toads emerging from hibernation had significantly smaller fat bodies than those uninfected. Infected females also had a lower packed cell volume (PCV) of the blood
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