Dab

The Dab (カレイ, Karei) is a saltwater fish in the introduced in. It is very similar in appearance to the Olive Flounder, another saltwater fish, which is even confused with the Dab by the player in its catch quotes in and.

In, the Dab is used in the Dab Meunière recipe for the Harvest Festival.

Donating to the museum
As with all fish and bugs in the, the Dab can be donated to the museum by talking to Blathers, the curator. When donating, Blathers will tell the player a little bit about the donation. Below is what he has to say in each game.

In

 * "By the by... Just so you know, eyes on a dab are positioned on the right, but on the left on a flounder. When young, these fish are shaped like ordinary fish, but... As they mature, they start becoming flatter in preparation for adulthood! What professionalism! You can tell this is a very responsible fish, wot?"

The Dab can be found in the tank at the back of the room, with other sea fish.

In
Upon donation to the museum, the information board in front of the tank that houses the dab says:
 * "Dabs generally have both eyes on the right side of their body, though there are some exceptions. Both types of dabs begin in infancy with an eye on each side of their body. As dabs grow, the eye on the left migrates to the right, though sometimes it doesn't move at all. Dabs dig in the sand to hide, which allows their eyes to stick up a bit to watch for danger. Because they live off of bugs and small creatures, their mouths are small, containing narrow, dull teeth."

In

 * The dab is a flatfish that bears some resemblance to the olive flounder, though their mouths are different. Personally, I am morbidly fascinated by each fish's eye placement. The dab's eyes are both on its right side, while the olive flounder's are on the left. These fish spend lots of time lying on their sides in the sand, so the odd eye placement makes some sense... But its-how can I put this? Creepy? Viscerally disturbing? Profoundly upsetting to fans of symmetry?

Real-world information
The common dab is the smallest flatfish in the world. It can be found on sandy seabeds, most commonly in the North Sea off the east coast of England.

Trivia

 * The Dab is tied with the Ray as the fish with the shortest name in the, at three letters.