Pufferfish

The Pufferfish is a fish that can be caught in the ocean at The Beach or on the Beach Farm on sunny summer days between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM. It can also be caught on Ginger Island in the ocean areas of Island West, South, Southeast, and the Pirate Cove during any season. Pufferfish can also appear in Garbage Cans during Summer, and it can be caught with Magic Bait regardless of weather, time, or season.

In the fishing minigame, the Pufferfish is one of only two rod-caught fish with a floater behavior, alongside the Blobfish. This makes it distinct from most fish, since its movement follows the special floater pattern rather than the usual behavior. Because of this, it is often remembered as one of the more unusual ocean fish to handle.

Pufferfish can be used in several other parts of the game:

• In a Fish Pond, Pufferfish reproduce every 4 days. The pond starts with a capacity of 3 fish and can be increased to 10 by completing three quests.
• The only possible Fish Pond output is yellow Pufferfish Roe.
• Pufferfish can be used in the sewing machine to create the Sailor Shirt.
• It can also be used as a yellow dye in the dye pots at Emily and Haley’s house.

The Fish Pond quest chain for Pufferfish increases capacity in three steps. The first upgrade takes the pond from 3 to 5 fish and may require Driftwood, a Frozen Geode, or Seaweed. The second upgrade increases capacity from 5 to 7 fish and may require Clams or Coral. The final upgrade increases capacity from 7 to 10 fish and may require Aquamarine, a Mussel, or Sea Urchins. Each quest grants Fishing XP.

Pufferfish ponds produce roe, and the amount of output depends on population:

• At populations of 1–4, there is a 70% chance to produce roe.
• At populations of 5–10, there is a 100% chance to produce roe.
• The pond produces 15 Fishing XP when it outputs roe.
• When no item is produced, lower populations still have a chance to yield nothing, while higher populations do not.

Pufferfish is also used in quests and requests. Demetrius requests one by mail on Summer 6 of Year 2 for the “Aquatic Research” quest, and the reward includes gold and one Friendship heart. It can also appear on the Help Wanted board outside Pierre’s General Store in Summer as an item delivery request, and Willy may request 1–4 Pufferfish for a fishing job request during Summer.