Dab

← (60) Red snapper

New Horizons fish

Olive flounder (62) →

New Horizons fish
← (60) Red snapper	→ Olive flounder (62)

Dab
Image gallery
Real-world info
Name: Limanda limanda (sand dab) Family: Pleuronectidae (right-eyed flounders)
Main appearances
DnM DnM+ AC DnMe+ iQue WW CF NL NH
Other appearances
Film HHD aF PC
Names in other languages  カレイ  가자미  Platessa  Kliesche  鲽鱼  Limande  Gallo  Schar  鰈魚  Limande  Gallo  Камбала

The dab (カレイ, Karei) is a fish in the Animal Crossing series introduced in Doubutsu no Mori e+. It appears as a medium shadow (large in the first-generation games) in the sea all day long from mid fall to mid spring. It is very similar in appearance to the olive flounder, another saltwater fish, which is even confused with the dab and outright joked about by the player in its catch quotes in Wild World and New Leaf respectively.

Catch details

In Doubutsu no Mori e+

#42

"カレイを　つり・・・ あれ?　ほんとに?"
Translation: "I caught a dab... Huh? Is it really?"

DnM / iQue

DnM+

AC

DnMe+

Time of year	Sep 26 - April 30
Time of day	All day
Location	Sea
Shadow size	Large
Selling price	800 Bells
Feng shui	None
Furniture size

In Wild World

#46

"I caught a dab! Didja see it? You're a dab, right?"

Description	About half the size of olive flounders, they like to bury themselves in the sand.
Time of year	Oct – Apr
Time of day	All day
Peak times	Nov – Mar
Location	Sea
Shadow size	Medium
Fish size	50 cm
Rarity	-
Selling price	300 Bells
Furniture size

In City Folk

#51

"I caught a dab! And I'm feeling fab!"

Description	These have flat, asymmetrical bodies. The eyes are on the right side.
Time of year	Oct – Apr
Time of day	All day
Peak times	N/A
Location	Sea
Shadow size	Medium
Fish size	About 20 in.
Selling price	300 Bells
Furniture size

In New Leaf

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

#56

"I caught a dab! I'm not just dabbling anymore!"

Time of year	Oct – Apr
Time of day	All day
Peak times	Nov – Mar
Location	Sea
Shadow size	Medium
Fish size	50 cm
Selling price	300 Bells
Furniture size

In Pocket Camp

#33

Availability	Not currently available 2019-02-15 – 2019-02-19 (Flounder Goals) 2020-09-09 – 2020-12-28 2021-08-29 – 2021-12-24 2022-12-26 – 2023-03-23 2023-12-26 – 2024-03-26
Location	Saltwater Shores
Shadow size	Large
Size	66.8 cm – 93.1 cm
Rarity	★
Selling price	10 Bells
Version added	Unknown
Villager gift data	Tier: 1 (Common) Rewards:  100 Bells +2 Friendship points

In New Horizons

In New Horizons, a dab can be used as an ingredient for Franklin to cook the Fish Meunière dish on Turkey Day in the northern hemisphere.

#61

"I caught a dab! Not bad!"

Time of year	North: Oct – Apr South: Apr – Oct
Time of day	All day
Location	Sea
Shadow size	Medium
Rarity	Common
Spawn requirement	Appears from the start of the game
Selling prices	Nook's Cranny:  300 Bells  C.J.:  450 Bells
Furniture size

Use in cooking

Dab is used as a cooking ingredient in the cooking recipes for the following items:

Recipes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

#	Item	Image	Type	Buy price	Available from	Materials
802	Fish-and-chips		Savory	Not for sale	Any villager  Restaurant	2× Potato 1× Dab
852	Karei no nitsuke		Savory	Not for sale	Fishing	1× Dab

Includes data sourced from the Data Spreadsheet for Animal Crossing New Horizons, compiled and edited by 6480, noizhub, Ricky, chaiinchomp, saberslime, robotic_scarab, mollumisc, sunmarsh, kyrokey, obstinateRixatrix, jackiwi, Zalex, SuperHamster, kait, hyuum, Azarro, Czarcasm, cinnamon_swirlix, astronomyfortwo, Welcius, glowtopia, BriKun, Alyrei, dodocodes.com, StevieCoops, sneeze, Shiny190, TwistedPeach, LavaToaster, capstone, vmario, rocklamp, Alexis, Aeon, and PanchamBro.

Donating to the museum

As with all fish and bugs in the Animal Crossing series, 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 Wild World

When a dab is donated, Blathers will say this:

"Dabs and flounders might look alike, but the way to eat them differs, eh wot? Dab is better simmered in sauce or sauteed, while flounder is better raw. It goes to show, the palate is more discriminating than the eye..."

In City Folk

When a dab is donated, Blathers will say this:

"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 New Leaf

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 New Horizons

When donating to Blathers or selecting "Tell me about this!" in New Horizons, he will provide the following information about the fish:

"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 it's-how can I put this? Creepy? Viscerally disturbing? Profoundly upsetting to fans of symmetry?"

Fishing Tourney

During a Fishing Tourney, when given a dab, Chip will say the following dialogue.

In City Folk

"Hey, just because dab is a little name doesn't mean they have little taste! Nope! Nyuuuk nyuk nyuk nyuk!"

In New Leaf

"Dab are really versatile snack fish. Stewed, grilled, fried... All good! But sashimi is easily the best. Course, I'm perfectly happy to just swallow 'em whole! It's my nature, you know? YUM!"

Gallery

For more images, view this subject's gallery.

• 

  Doubutsu no Mori e+

• 

  Animal Crossing: Wild World

• 

  Animal Crossing: City Folk

• 

  Animal Crossing: New Leaf

• 

  Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Real-world information

A real-life common dab

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 Animal Crossing series, at three letters.

Names in other languages

	カレイ karei	Flatfish
	가자미 gajami	Flatfish
	鲽鱼 diéyú	European plaice
	鰈魚 Unknown
	Камбала Kambala	Flatfish
	Schar	Dab
	Kliesche	Dab
	Gallo	Megrim, another kind of flatfish
	Limande	Dab
	Platessa	European plaice

Notes

Pocket Camp fish

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