Data on ectoparasites infestation on small mammals from different habitats in east-coast Peninsular Malaysia

This data article presents on the ectoparasites infestation on small mammals in Peninsular Malaysia. The dataset on ectoparasites infestation is important because it raises a major medical concern regarding the spread of potentially zoonotic disease from wildlife to human. Tick and chigger are the primary ectoparasites as reservoirs of vector-borne diseases found on small mammals in Malaysia. These small mammals that are infested with ectoparasites occupy various types of habitats, including human settlements, could be of community health risks as the carriers of potentially zoonotic diseases. Field samplings were conducted from February 2015 to February 2016 in three different ecological habitats of mixed dipterocarp forest, coastal forest and insular forest, in Terengganu, Malaysia. A total of 35 and 22 species of bats and rodents respectively were captured and examined for ectoparasites. Twenty-three species of bats and 16 species of small mammal were recorded as hosts for at least one species of ectoparasites. These findings show that the highest ectoparasite infestation occurred on bat community.


a b s t r a c t
This data article presents on the ectoparasites infestation on small mammals in Peninsular Malaysia. The dataset on ectoparasites infestation is important because it raises a major medical concern regarding the spread of potentially zoonotic disease from wildlife to human. Tick and chigger are the primary ectoparasites as reservoirs of vector-borne diseases found on small mammals in Malaysia. These small mammals that are infested with ectoparasites occupy various types of habitats, including human settlements, could be of community health risks as the carriers of potentially zoonotic diseases. Field samplings were conducted from February 2015 to February 2016 in three different ecological habitats of mixed dipterocarp forest, coastal forest and insular forest, in Terengganu, Malaysia. A total of 35 and 22 species of bats and rodents respectively were captured and examined for ectoparasites. Twenty-three species of bats and 16 species of small mammal were recorded as hosts for at least one species of ectoparasites. These findings show that the highest ectoparasite infestation occurred on bat community.
© 2020 The Author(s

Value of the data
• The data is useful in providing the information regarding the ectoparasite species composition and the relationship among the ectoparasites with their small mammal hosts. • The data is valuable for further research to determine whether there are any spatial and temporal changes in ectoparasites composition due to ecological disturbances or climate change. • The data on the occurrence of the ectoparasite-vector are useful in epidemiology study to predict the potential of presence of the zoonotic disease in the studied area. • The data also provide information on the interaction of ectoparasites and small mammal hosts in term of the degree of the specificity and distribution of each ectoparasites species. • The data is vital for the community health and wildlife authorities to monitor the host populations near rural villages and forest edges that maybe the cause of zoonotic diseases spillover.

Data Description
Systematic field samplings were conducted in three different habitats that are mixed dipterocarp forest, coastal forest and insular forest of Terengganu from February 2015 to February 2016. Table 1 shows the description of 18 selected sampling sites in Terengganu. This data recorded 57 species of small mammals comprising 15 families and six orders (Supplementary Table 1  toparasites, which are bat flies, fleas, ticks, mesostigmatids, chiggers, fur mites, bugs and lice ( Table 2 ; Supplementary Tables 2-4). The infestation of ectoparasites was then divided and arranged according to the species of small mammal hosts (Supplementary Tables 5-7).

Experimental Design, Materials and Methods
Field samplings on small mammals were conducted in three different habitats in Terengganu including the mixed dipterocarp forest, coastal forest and insular forest off coast islands from February 2015 until February 2016. The description of these habitats has been described by [2][3] . A total of 10 standard mist-nets and two sets of four-bank harp trap, and 100 cages baited traps were used to capture bats and non-volant small mammals, respectively [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] . The captured small mammals were identified, and standard morphological measurements and weights were recorded. Then the samples were sorted to live sample or voucher species to enable appropriate ectoparasite extracting method to be used.
A fine tooth-comb was used to remove all the ectoparasite that attached on the host animal coat. Ectoparasite dropped during combing were collected by using the wet sharpen applicator stick and preserved in the collecting vials containing 70 % ethanol separately for each host small mammals. The vials were labelled with sufficient information and brought back to the laboratory for species identification. The ectoparasites were prepared for mounting on slide and identified according to their taxonomic groups which are mesotigmatid mite [ 9 , 10 ], chiggers [ 11 , 12 ], ticks [13] and insect ectoparasite (fleas, lice and bat flies) [ 14 , 15 ]. The degree of specialisation among ectoparasite species was analysed using R version 3.3.2 (R core team 2016) and the package bipartite 2.08 [16] following [17] .