In Animal Crossing: New Horizons there is a wide expanse of bugs and fish, jointly referred to as "critters" (over 150 of them). The player is tasked to, if they so choose, capture all of them with the goals of filling their Critterpedia and donating all of the live specimens to Blathers' museum on the island.
However, with so many critters in the game, there are bound to be both good and bad ones, but which of these critters are the best? This list aims to answer that question by ranking the top 10 best critters found in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
10 10. Hermit Crab
The Hermit Crab can be found disguised as a shell on the shores of the islands. These bugs can be found all year round, between the hours of 7 p.m. and 8 a.m.
Whilst the Hermit Crab is nowhere near the most expensive critter on this list (being a mere 1000 bells), it more than makes up for that with the way the player finds it. The Hermit Crab is found when the player approaches a conch (or similar) shell on the beach, popping out of its shell and attempting to scurry away. If the player was looking to sell seashells they would get a paltry 300 bells per shell, but the Hermit Crab over triples the number of bells the player receives, whilst being common enough for the player to enjoy the surprise. They also make cute pets.
9 9. Scarab Beetle
The lustrous Scarab Beetles can be found during the heat of summer (Northern Hemisphere: July - August. Southern Hemisphere: January - February.) on the island, between 11 p.m. and 8 a.m. They appear on the trunks of the island's palm trees.
The Scarab Beetle is not an incredibly rare bug, being easy to force it to appear on a "Stag Island", whilst also being worth a substantial 10000 bells. It will also be found a fairly consistent amount of time if the Stag Island is used to farm rarer and more expensive stags.
8 8. Saw Stag
Saw Stags are found during the hot months (Northern Hemisphere: July - August. Southern Hemisphere: January - February.) on the island, during any time of day. They will appear on the trunks of the palm trees on the player's island (if they have them) or the Nook Miles islands.
The Saw Stag bears many similarities to the Scarab Beetle, being a part of the stag family, although they sell for a fifth of the price (2000 bells). The reason they place higher is the sheer number of them that can be found around the island in normal circumstances (greatly exaggerated when creating a Stag Island), making it an easy way to earn bells in the summer.
7 7. Madagascan Sunset Moth
These colorful moths can be found in the warmer seasons (Northern Hemisphere: April - September. Southern Hemisphere: October - March.) and will be seen flying near the flowers on the islands.
The Madagascan Sunset Moth is a common moth that is easy to find if the player has lots of flowers on their island or finds a Nook Miles island variant with lots of flowers. They look pretty and sell for a pretty sum as well (2500 bells).
6 6. Rajah Brooke's Birdwing
This butterfly appears twice during the year (Northern Hemisphere: April - September, and December - February. Southern Hemisphere: June - August, and October - March.) between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. They can be spotted flying around the flowers on the player's island (as well as Nook Miles islands if the player does not have any of their own).
Rajah Brooke's Birdwing is very similar to the Madagascan Sunset Moth (both in behavior and appearance). It is fairly easy to find near flowers, looks great flying around the island, and sells for 2500 bells.
5 5. Orchid Mantis
These formidable bugs can be found nearly all year round (Northern Hemisphere: March - November. Southern Hemisphere: September - May.) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The Orchid Mantids enjoy sitting atop the white flowers on the player's island and Nook Miles islands.
The Orchid Mantis has many positive factors. They react in a unique way to the player's presence (arching up to try and scare them off), look very good sitting on their white flowers, are decently common on islands with many white flowers, and sell for 2400 bells.
4 4. Peacock Butterfly
Peacock Butterflies enjoy the spring (Northern Hemisphere: March - June. Southern Hemisphere: September - December.) and are active between 4 a.m . and 7 p.m. These dark butterflies can be found flying near the blue, purple, and black flowers on the player's island.
This butterfly is incredibly common on islands with a lot of blue, purple, and black flowers, easy to catch and identify, as well as selling to the two Nooklings at a respectable 2500 bells, making it an easy shoo-in for this list.
3 3. Koi
Koi can be found at any time of year, between the hours of 4 p.m. and 9 a.m. These fish can be found by fishing in the island's ponds (small bodies of water unconnected to the ocean or rivers) and have a large (size 4) shadow size.
The Koi look great and make for amazing pets or exhibitions/decorations, as well as being decently common in ponds and being worth a whopping 4000 bells for how often they can appear. As an added bonus, they are also a pleasant surprise to catch, as they have the same shadow size as their cousins, the Carp (worth a measly 300 bells with a drab color scheme).
2 2. Great White Shark
This terrifying fish appears in the island's summers (Northern Hemisphere: June - September. Southern Hemisphere: December - March.) between 4 p.m. and 9 a.m. They have the largest (size 6) shadow size, with a handy fin to help identify them.
The Great White Shark is so good due to it selling for a colossal 15000 bells, whilst also not even being in the rarest tier of fish. It is also very easy to identify from a distance, with its largest shadow size and the useful fin narrowing down the possible fish it could be immensely.
1 1. Red Snapper
Red Snappers can be found by fishing in the ocean waters surrounding the islands. They can be found all year round, at any time of day. These fish have large (size 4) shadow sizes when seen in the water.
The Red Snapper scores the top of this list. This is due to its similarities to one of the worst critters, the Sea Bass. Both of these fish have large shadows, however, the Red Snapper is a bit rarer. The increased rarity makes it all the more pleasing to see when the player is trying to farm for rare fish (as many are either large or very large in size), being worth just under eight times as much (3000 bells) as the Sea Bass' 400 bells selling price (which the player will be seeing a lot of when fishing).