Nightsiders

Nightsiders are a fictional extraterrestrial race featured in the science fiction television series Andromeda. The Nightsider seen in the show, Gerentex, appeared in the program's pilot episode "Under the Night". The first unnamed Nightsider appeared in the second episode of season one, "An Affirming Flame".

Description
Nightsiders are a nocturnal, humanoid species whose physical characteristics include rodent-like features, poor eyesight and enhanced hearing. Nightsiders are asexual creatures, reproducing through a process called parthenogenesis.

History
One particular Nightsider, Gerentex, as well as one of his lieutenants hired the salvage ship Eureka Maru captained by Beka Valentine to find the legendary lost High Guard ship the Andromeda Ascendant. They found the Andromeda frozen on the edge of the event horizon of a black hole in the Hephaistos System. They towed the ship to a safe distance, but quickly discovered that its original captain, Dylan Hunt, was still alive and had no intention of turning his ship over to a group of pirates. Beka and her crew decided to turn against Gerentex and side with Captain Hunt. Gerentex took command of the Eureka Maru and used it to nudge the Andromeda back towards the black hole. Hunt and the others managed to avoid destruction by using nova bombs to turn the black hole into a white hole. They tracked down the Maru and took it back from Gerentex. The Nightsider tried to shoot Dylan with an energy weapon, but the weapon malfunctioned thanks to Beka's chief engineer Seamus Harper. Dylan knocked Gerentex out with a single blow and set him adrift in an escape pod.

Biology
Since Nightsiders are nocturnal beings, their visual capabilities is diminished from that of other life forms. To compensate for this, they have extremely acute hearing. A Nightsider can overhear a whispered conversation taking place from clear across a room with perfect clarity.

Notes & Trivia

 * The Nightsider race was created by Robert Hewitt Wolfe and Allan Kroeker based on concepts originally developed by Gene Roddenberry.