Hive rats were enormous, nearly hairless, rapacious rodents who inhabited the sewers and lowest levels of Coruscant. The mutant rat species was often believed to be the result of ecosystem damage and exposure to sewage, pollution, and reactor radiation.
It could reach sizes of up to 3 meters and 300 kilograms. The bodies of the rats were often riddled with tumors and calluses.
Its powerful teeth and jaws were capable of inflicting considerable damage to water pipes and other utility lines. The hive rats' only benefit to Coruscanti residents was that they were happy to feed on duracrete worms, a pest. Otherwise, they were despised and looked on with fear. They roamed the underlevels in packs, and homeless residents and fugitives who wandered these levels frequently fell victim to roving packs of hive rats or hungry dianogas.
The hive rat gave birth to litters of 10 or more pups, for which it constructed nests.
- The Wildlife of Star Wars: A Field Guide
- The Official Star Wars Fact File97
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia