. Since Manaan was the only naturally occurring source of kolto, the Selkath held great diplomatic sway during the Jedi Civil War. At that time, they held tightly to their neutrality; however, a few farsighted Selkath occasionally broke their neutrality in secret, and arranged deals to help their preferred side. Eventually, the kolto market disappeared and the galaxy abandoned the Selkath. It was not until the rise of the Galactic Empire that the Selkath would have interaction with the galaxy again. They were later conquered by the Galactic Empire.As an aquatic species, the Selkath were skilled swimmers. They resembled anthropomorphic sting rays and had blue, pink, or green-colored skin, which was patterned for underwater camouflage, and their mouths were bracketed by cephalic lobes. They tended to stroke these during conversation, analogous to the human habit of stroking facial hair, such as mustaches. Female Selkath differed from males by the presence of tendrils on the back of their heads.All members of the Selkath race had retractable, venom-tipped claws. Similar to the Wookiees
, the use of these claws in any form of combat or attack was considered dishonorable and a sign of madness; to do this was to give in to animal instincts unbecoming of a sentient species. When the Selkath at Hrakert Station were driven insane by the Progenitor, they reacted primitively and used their claws to strike down Republic technicians. The Progenitor was a large female firaxan shark, who was seen as a deity-like figure to the Selkath and believed to be their evolutionary ancestor. The Progenitor had the ability to let out a sonic wailing, causing both firaxan sharks and Selkath to go insane.
