Data of the study: De novo genome assembly, annotation, and characterization of chemosensory genes in the camel ked (Hippobosca camelina)

Objectives Hippobosca camelina (camel ked) is an obligate hematophagous ectoparasite that infests camels. Hematophagy inflicts painful bites, leading to myiasis, anaemia and pathogen transmission. The genome assembly for this species is currently unavailable, limiting ourunderstanding of its genetics, particularly itschemosensory system. Therefore, this studyfocused on generating whole genome assembly and characterizing the chemosensory genes to aid in molecular studies of the camel ked. Data Description Genomic DNA was extracted from the thoracic muscles of both the male and female camel keds. Sequencing using Oxford Nanopore technology resulted in a total of 11.8 Giga base pairs for the male ked and 13.6 Giga base pairs for the female ked, which was then assembled into a 133.5 Mb genome for the male ked with an N50 of 419.6 Kb and 135.6 Mb for the female ked with an N50 of 1.2 Mb. Both genomes had a BUSCO completion rate above 97% with the insecta_odb_10 lineage datasets. Active Chemosensory genes recovered included 4 Chemosensory specific proteins (CSPs), 18 Ionotropic receptors (IRs), 7 Gustatory receptors (GRs), 5 Odorant receptors (ORs), 9 Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) and 1 Sensory Neuron Membrane Protein (SNMP). This information will lead to a better understanding of the genomic structure and functional chemosensory genes of the keds.