Animal Crossing: New Horizons Guide to All 40 Sea Creatures (August Update)

Animal Crossing: New Horizons lets players expand their island collection with a full set of 40 sea creatures, ranging from fish-adjacent finds like starfish and anemones to crabs and squid. To collect them, you’ll need the right diving setup—and once you do, these catches can be used for gifting, selling, or donating to the museum’s aquarium exhibits.

Key takeaways

• Players can collect 40 different sea creatures in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
• Sea creature collection includes items such as starfish, anemones, crabs, and squid, in addition to fish.
• To hunt sea creatures, you need a swimsuit and a diving mask so your character can swim and dive underwater.
• Caught sea creatures can be gifted, sold, or donated to the museum to support aquarium expansions.
• Monthly availability is listed for the Northern Hemisphere; Southern Hemisphere months follow the unlisted counterparts.

What counts as a “sea creature” in New Horizons

Beyond traditional fish, the game’s sea creature pool includes other marine animals you can find in the water. The total number is 40, and it covers multiple categories of underwater life such as starfish, anemones, crabs, and squid.

When and where to find them (and how seasons are handled)

The game notes that the calendar information—specifically the month-based availability—applies to the Northern Hemisphere. For players in the Southern Hemisphere, the relevant months are the corresponding ones that aren’t explicitly listed.

Availability is tracked alongside fishing conditions through a dedicated list (including catch times, locations, and prices for every sea creature), with a separate approach for each creature type so you can target what you still need.

How to collect sea creatures

To gather these underwater animals, you must equip both a swimsuit and a diving mask. With that gear, your character can swim in the sea and enter dive stations to reach sea creature spawn points.

What you can do with your catches

Sea creatures don’t just fill out a new collection—they also have practical uses. Like fish and insects, they can be donated to the museum, sold, or given as gifts.

There isn’t a new museum wing specifically for sea creatures. However, donating them still expands the museum’s aquarium displays.