With the beginning of December Animal Crossing: New Horizons Players must find a different set of fish, bugs, and marine animals on their islands.
There’s no rush to catch any of them as most of them will stay for much longer than a month, but make sure to donate to Blather’s new finds to complete your museum. You can tell when you’ve caught a new creature because your character says “Yes!” before they say the name of the beetle or fish.
You can also check your Critterpedia to see if you donated the beetle fish or not. If so, a small owl icon will appear next to the creature’s name. (Note that these emblems will not appear if you are on another island.)
We’ve broken down the list of new bugs and fish to be caught in December by hemisphere below so you can check which are new to your area. Keep in mind that some of these will return to your island after they were previously available. So if they sound familiar to you, you likely caught them on an earlier availability.
New Animals in Animal Crossing: New Horizons for December (Northern Hemisphere)
| Critter type | Surname | place | Shadow size | time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critter type | Surname | place | Shadow size | time |
| error | Emperor butterfly | Flying | N / A | 5 – 8 a.m. |
| error | Raja Brooke’s bird wing | Flying through purple flowers | N / A | 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. |
| fish | Pond smelled | River | Small | All day |
| fish | Stringfish | River (cliff) | X large | All day |
| fish | Sea butterfly | sea | Smallest | All day |
| fish | Octopus | sea | medium | All day |
| fish | Oarfish | sea | Biggest | All day |
New Animals in Animal Crossing: New Horizons for December (Southern Hemisphere)
| Critter type | Surname | place | Shadow size | time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critter type | Surname | place | Shadow size | time |
| error | Emperor butterfly | Flying | N / A | 5 – 8 a.m. |
| error | Firefly | Flying | N / A | 7 p.m. – 4 a.m. |
| error | Drone beetle | On trees | N / A | All day |
| error | Goliath beetle | On coconut trees | N / A | 5 – 8 a.m. |
| error | Rainbow deer | On trees | N / A | 7 p.m. – 8 a.m. |
| error | mosquito | Flying | N / A | 5 p.m. – 4 a.m. |
| fish | Tilapia | River | medium | All day |
| fish | Piranha | River | Small | 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., 9 p.m. – 4 a.m. |
| fish | Arowana | River | Big | 4 p.m. – 9 a.m. |
| fish | Dorado | River | X large | 4 a.m. – 9 p.m. |
| fish | At all | pond | Biggest | 4 p.m. – 9 a.m. |
| fish | Arapaima | River | Biggest | 4 p.m. – 9 a.m. |
| fish | Saddled Bichir | River | Big | 9 p.m. – 4 a.m. |
| fish | Bandaal | sea | Closely | All day |
| fish | Saw shark | sea | Largest (fin) | 4 p.m. – 9 a.m. |
| fish | Hammerhead shark | sea | Largest (fin) | 4 p.m. – 9 a.m. |
| fish | Great white shark | sea | Largest (fin) | 4 p.m. – 9 a.m. |
| fish | Whale shark | sea | Largest (fin) | All day |
| fish | Sucker fish | sea | Heavy penalty) | All day |
| Marine life | Sea grapes | Ocean (diving) | N / A | All day |
| Marine life | shell | Ocean (diving) | N / A | All day |
| Marine life | Abalone | Ocean (diving) | N / A | 4 p.m. – 9 a.m. |
| Marine life | Crab gas | Ocean (diving) | N / A | All day |
| Marine life | Tiger shrimp | Ocean (diving) | N / A | 4 p.m. – 9 a.m. |
| Marine life | Sea pineapple | Ocean (diving) | N / A | All day |
