Occupying the planet Glee Anselm within the Mid Rim, Hammerfish constituted a variety of fish. Finial Bright, a Nautolan, engaged in hunting these fish while on Glee Anselm. She later drew a comparison between their visual characteristics and the design of a Longbeam cruiser. Sometime between 34 ABY and 35 ABY, Strono Tuggs, an Artiodac chef, journeyed to this world and devised a dish incorporating a sweet sauce and the Hammerfish—known as Broiled Hammerfish. This culinary creation was intended to foster improved relations between the two sentient species inhabiting the planet: the Nautolans and the Anselmi.
The oceans of Glee Anselm, a planet in the Mid Rim, served as the homeworld for the Hammerfish. During the time of the High Republic Era, Finial Bright, a Nautolan, gained familiarity with the Hammerfish's characteristics through hunting them on Glee Anselm. In 232 BBY, while serving as a captain within the Republic Defense Coalition aboard the Longbeam cruiser Aurora IX, Bright contemplated the cruiser's form and aesthetic, making a mental comparison to the appearance of a Hammerfish.
Between 34 ABY and 35 ABY, the Artiodac chef, Strono Tuggs, embarked on a culinary exploration of the galaxy. This journey led him to Glee Anselm, where he invented the dish Broiled Hammerfish as an effort to improve the relationship between the two indigenous sentient species of the world: the Nautolans and the Anselmi. He prepared the entrée using freshly caught Hammerfish and a sweet sauce derived from local island ingredients. Despite the popularity of the Hammerfish dish among tourists, Tuggs believed that his creation was insufficient to completely resolve the tensions between the Nautolans and the Anselmi, although it did not exacerbate the conflict. Tuggs later documented his voyage to Glee Anselm—including his creation of Broiled Hammerfish— in his third cookbook, The Ultimate Cookbook, which was published in 35 ABY.
Hammerfish were initially mentioned in Light of the Jedi, a 2021 novel penned by Charles Soule as a component of Phase I of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia project. Jenn Fujikawa and Marc Sumerak authored the 2023 Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook, which featured an out-of-universe recipe for Broiled Hammerfish that suggested using cubed salmon.