The common water rat is a large rodent adapted to life near water. It has webbed feet and a thick tail with a white tip.
The toes are webbed on both front and hind feet, and the thick tail ends in white. Long whiskers grow around its blunt muzzle.
It nests on land but depends on water for food. Records include freshwater lakes and rivers as well as coastal and brackish sites.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.