Updated at: 24-07-2023 - By: Leo Hall

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you can add Sea Creatures to your Critterpedia, give them to the Museum, or sell them for Bells after capturing them on your island. This guide will teach you where, when, how long, and how much to spend to find every type of Sea Creature.

Complete Sea Creatures List in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons features 40 unique Sea Creatures to catch and collect, an increase of 10 from the 30 available in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

ACNH sea creatures list - Polygon

Below you’ll find comprehensive information about every Sea Creature, including when it can be seen in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, for how long, how big its shadow is, how fast it moves, and how much it sells for at Bells. According to Critterpedia, the items here are listed from highest to lowest and then left to right.

If you’d rather see a tabulated list of Sea Creatures, you can do so by size, speed, and selling price at the bottom of this page.

Image Marine Life Size of Shadows Speed Time Month
(The Top and Bottom of the World)
Retailer List Cost
Abalone
Abalone Large Normal 4pm-9am June–January in the North; December–July in the South. 2000
Acorn Barnacle
Conch barnacle Small fails to budge Any time All year 600
Chambered Nautilus
Nautilus with Chambers Medium Slow 4pm-9am Date Range: May-November North; March-June and September-November South 1800
Dungeness Crab
Crab, Dungeness Large Slow Any time Seasons: North, November–May; South, May–November 1900
Firefly Squid
Flying Squid Small Normal 9pm-4am Seasons: North, March–June; South, September–December 1400
Flatworm
Flatworm Small Normal 4pm-9am N: August–September; S: February–March 700
Gazami Crab
King Crab Medium Normal Any time North: June–November; South: December–May 2200
Giant Isopod
Isopoda gigantea Large Fast 12am-4pm; 9am-4pm North: September to November; South: January to April 12000
Gigas Giant Clam
Huge Enormous Crab Large Fast Any time North: May–September; South: November–March 15000
Horseshoe Crab
An Example of a Horseshoe Crab Medium Normal 9pm-4am Seasonal Naming: North: July-September; South: January-March
Lobster
Lobster Large Fast Any time Seasons: North: December–January and April–June; South: June–July and October–December 4500
Mantis Shrimp
The Mantis Shrimp Medium Normal 4pm-9am All year
Moon Jellyfish
Crinoid of the Moon Medium Slow Any time Seasons: North, July–September; South, January–March 600
Mussel
Mussel Medium Totally still Any time Northeastern: June–December; Southeastern: December–May 1500
Octopus
Octopus Medium Normal Any time All year 1200
Oyster
Oyster Medium Slow Any time North: October through February; South: March through August 1100
Pearl Oyster
Oyster Pearl Medium Fast Any time All year 2800
Red King Crab
King Crab Red Large Fast Any time N: November through March; S: May through September 8000
Scallop
Scallop Medium Normal Any time All year 1200
Sea Anemone
Anemone sp. Large fails to budge Any time All year 500
Sea Cucumber
Marine Cucumber Large Slow Any time S: May-Oct; N: November-April 500
Sea Grapes
Salty Grapes Medium Totally still Any time North: June–September; South: December–March 900
Sea Pig
Sea Pig Medium Fast 4pm-9am S: May–August; N: November–February 10000
Sea Pineapple
Oceanic Pineapple Small fails to budge Any time A: March-May; C: June-September; S: October-February 1500
Sea Slug
Sea Slug Small Slow Any time All year 600
Sea Star
Sea Star Medium fails to budge Any time All year 500
Sea Urchin
Spiraling Seastars Medium Totally still Any time South: November–March; North: May–September 1700
Seaweed
Seaweed Small Totally still Any time Seasons: North: October through July; South: April through January 600
Slate Pencil Urchin
Crackpot Pencil Pusher Medium Normal 4pm-9am Seasons: North: May–September; South: November–March 2000
Snow Crab
Snow Crab Large Fast Any time S: May-Oct; N: November-April 6000
Spider Crab
This Is a Spider Crab Large Fast Any time North: March–April; South: September–October 12000
Spiny Lobster
Kraken-like Lobster Medium Normal 9pm-4am Seasons: North: October–December; South: April–June 5000
Spotted Garden Eel
Garden Eel with Spots Medium Slow 4am-9pm Southern: November–April; Northern: May–October 1100
Sweet Shrimp
Tempting Shrimp Small Normal 4pm-9am North: October through February; South: March through August 1400
Tiger Prawn
Spicy Deep-Fried Tiger Prawns Medium Normal 4pm-9am North: June–September; South: December–March 3000
Turban Shell
Turban Covering Small Slow Any time Dates: September–December up north, March–May down south 1000
Umbrella Octopus
Invertebrate with an Umbrella Small Normal Any time N: March–May and September–November; S: March–May and November 6000
Vampire Squid
Bloodsucking Squid Large Fast 4pm-9am Seasons: North: May–August; South: November–February 10000
Venus' Flower Basket
Basket of Flowers for Venus Large Fast Any time Seasons: Northern (October–February) and Southern (April–August) 5000
Whelk
Whelk Medium Slow Any time All year 1000

How To Visually Tell Sea Creatures Apart

Fast Generally Means Rare

A fast creature (one that you can’t catch up to by swimming like an A-Spam) is probably quite rare. This makes it possible to spot rare sea creatures with relative ease. Avoid pressing A unless you want to rush fast creatures. Shadow lengths and velocities can be found in the Sea Creatures Checklist.

Full list of EVERY sea creature in Animal Crossing: New Horizons [UPDATED] | Pocket Gamer

Large Moving Shadows Are Rare

A fast-moving, large-shadowed sea creature is extremely unusual. Ignore anything that doesn’t move; it’s probably just a sea anemone or some other kind of seaweed. You should definitely pursue that large shadow you just saw.

How To Get Pearls

Can Get By Diving

Like Sea Creatures, pearls can be acquired by diving to the bottom of the ocean and retrieving them. Their retail value is high because they are in high demand for Do It Yourself Recipes involving Mermaid sets.

Cannot Be Donated To Blathers

Pearls can’t be given to Blathers in the museum because they aren’t Sea Creatures. Instead, they’re used as a raw material for arts and crafts projects.

Get From Pascal

Pascal can be bribed with a scallop whenever he pops up for a chance at a Pearl or a Do-It-Yourself Recipe. You’ll only be able to do this once per day, so make it a habit to go out and find some Scallops.

What are Sea Creatures in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Dive to the depths of the ocean floor and you’ll encounter Sea Creatures. Despite the fact that most of them are fish, they have their own page on Critterpedia.
As soon as the Museum on your island opens, you can contribute specimens you’ve caught. You won’t get anything in return for donating these items, but your Museum will start to look really nice as things start to fill up.
If you’re not into collecting but could use some extra cash, marine life can be exchanged for Bells. Some animals will be worth more than others, but players can still use the Bells they earn to buy beds, tables, and even tools.

How to Catch Sea Creatures

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a Wet Suit is required for catching marine life. It costs 3,000 Bells to purchase directly from Nook’s Cranny, or you can place an order through the Nook Shopping app.
When you are near the ocean, press “A” to put on the Wet Suit and dive in. You can swim in the ocean from the beach, or you can jump off the rocks if you want to.
If you go swimming, you will notice bubbles. Press “Y” to dive down and surface with a sea creature as you swim over the bubbles.
If the shadow starts to move away, you can keep swimming underwater by tapping “A”, and then press ’A’ once you’re above the shadow to catch the evasive creature.

FAQS:

What is the rarest sea animal in Animal Crossing?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 10 Rare Items Hiding in the Deep Blue

  • Eight Spiny Lobster.
  • 7 The Flower Basket of Venus.
  • Six Snow Crabs.
  • Five king crabs, red.
  • Four Bloodthirsty Squid.
  • Three Sea Pigs.
  • Two enormous isopods.
  • 1 Gigantic, Enormous Clam. Gigas giant clams are the most valuable and difficult to find underwater treasure.

How do you catch all the sea creatures in Animal Crossing?

When you’re out in the water, you might notice some bubbles. Press “Y” to dive down and surface with a sea creature as you swim over the bubbles. If the shadow starts to move away, you can keep swimming underwater by tapping “A”, and if you manage to swim over it, you can catch the elusive creature by pressing ’A’.