Sweetfish

← (25) Pond smelt

New Horizons fish

Cherry salmon (27) →

New Horizons fish
← (25) Pond smelt	→ Cherry salmon (27)

Sweetfish
Image gallery
Real-world info
Name: Plecoglossus altivelis (sweetfish) Family: Plecoglossidae (sweetfishes)
Main appearances
DnM DnM+ AC DnMe+ iQue WW CF NL NH
Other appearances
Film HHD aF PC
Names in other languages  アユ  은어  Ayu  Ayu  香鱼  Ayu  Ayu  Ayu  香魚  Ayu  Ayu  Айю

The Sweetfish is a river fish in the Animal Crossing series introduced in Doubutsu no Mori. It can be found from July to September in all games except Animal Crossing: Wild World in which it can be found from July until August.

Catch details

In Animal Crossing

#20

"I caught a sweetfish! And let me tell you, that is one SWEET fish!"

DnM / iQue

DnM+

AC

DnMe+

Time of year	Jul – Sep
Time of day	All day
Location	River
Shadow size	Small
Selling price	1,300 Bells
Feng shui	None
Furniture size

In Wild World

#22

"I caught sweetfish! Sweeeeet!"

Description	Depending on where they're caught, their flavor can change. It's common to use sweetfish to catch sweetfish.
Time of year	Unknown
Time of day	Unknown
Peak times	July - August
Location	River
Shadow size	Small
Fish size	25 cm
Selling price	900 Bells
Furniture size

In City Folk

#23

"I caught a sweetfish! Deeeeelish!"

Description	These taste differently, depending on the river they're caught in.
Time of year	Jul - Sep 15
Time of day	Unknown
Peak times	N/A
Location	River
Shadow size	Medium
Fish size	About 10 in.
Selling price	900 Bells
Furniture size

In New Leaf

#25

"I caught a sweetfish! Hmmm. I've had sweeter!"

Time of year	Jul - Sep 15
Time of day	All day
Peak times	9 AM - 4 PM
Location	River
Shadow size	Medium
Fish size	25 cm
Selling price	900 Bells
Furniture size

In Pocket Camp

#116

Event availability	None
Location	Lost Lure Creek
Shadow size	Medium
Fish size	21.6 cm - 25.0 cm
Rarity	★★
Catch rate	4.4883%
Selling price	800 Bells
Request reward	1,500 Bells, 3 Friendship Points Fortune Cookie (20%), Bronze Treats (30%)

In New Horizons

#26

"I caught a sweetfish! Hope it's not artificially sweet!"

Time of year	North: Jul – Sep South: Jan – Mar
Time of day	All day
Location	River
Shadow size	Medium
Spawn requirement	Appears from the start of the game
Selling prices	Nook's Cranny:  900 Bells  C.J.:  1,350 Bells
Furniture size

Donating to the museum

In Animal Crossing

"Sweetfish appear when the days grow long, you know. Some say summer can't begin until the first one is caught. Of course, the poor dear is than eaten! Hardly a fit welcome for summer's herald! I, myself, do not eat fish. This one will be quite safe with us here. Quite safe, indeed! Hoo, I say!"

In Wild World

"This fish is hardly sweet, contrary to its name. It still tastes... fishy. Indeed, if you expect some sort of lollipop in fish-form, you will be horrified!" —Blathers

The Sweetfish can be found swimming near the surface in the pond aquarium in the first fish room.

In City Folk

"You can always tell where a sweetfish has been by the trail of bite marks it leaves behind, eh wot? The fish will scrape away at rocks that have food stuck to them, leaving jagged teeth marks. ...Quite wild behavior for such a refined-looking little fish, I should say!" —Blathers

The Sweetfish can be found in the middle-right tank in the aquarium.

In New Leaf

"Sweetfish are migratory fish born upstream that travel to the sea and then return to rivers to spawn. This migratory mind-set is what emphasizes their similarity to salmon. Adult sweetfish have a watermelon-like mossy smell when caught, since they eat moss on riverbed rocks. Sweetfish are very territorial and will attack rivals that encroach on their territory. Anglers use this combative nature against them by using lures made of other sweetfish." — Blathers

In New Horizons

"Sweetfish are the damp herals of summer! These slippery fellows appear in numbers when it warms up. They hatch in a river, then swim to the sea. Once mature, they return to the river where they were born. But when they return depends on the river temperature—if it's too cold their fishing season wil start later. Some even say summer can't start without sweetfish...despite the KEY role played by the earth's axial tilt!" — Blathers

Once donated to the museum, the Sweetfish can be found in the second tier of the waterfall fish-tank with the Stringfishand Freshwater Goby.

Gallery

For more images, view this subject's gallery.

• 

  Animal Crossing

• 

  Animal Crossing: Wild World

• 

  Animal Crossing: City Folk

• 

  Animal Crossing: New Leaf

• 

  Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Real-world information

The sweetfish, or ayu, is an amphidromous fish, the only species in the genus Plecoglossus and in family Plecoglossidae. It is a relative of the smelts and is placed in the order Osmeriformes. Native to the Palearctic ecozone, it is found in rivers, lakes, and coastal waters of western Hokkaidō in Japan southward to the Korean Peninsula, China, and Taiwan. The name "sweetfish" is from the sweetness of its flesh. Regarding its typical one-year life span, it is also known as nen-gyo ("year-fish"). It is Gunma prefecture's prefectural fish.

Names in other languages

	アユ ayu	Sweetfish
	은어 euneo	Sweetfish, lit. "silver fish"
	香鱼 xiāngyú	Sweetfish
	香魚 Unknown
	Айю Ay'yu	From Japanese name
	Ayu	From Japanese name
	Ayu	From Japanese name
	Ayu	From Japanese name
	Ayu	From Japanese name
	Ayu	From Japanese name