How to Fish Endangered Creatures: All 9 Flagged Species and Their Lures

Nine creatures in How to Fish carry an internal endangered flag, and they are the only catches that add a flat 1.25x killscore row on top of everything else you stack. Seven come off ordinary lure tiers. The other two — Pufferfish ($12,000) and Bing Bong ($300) — are boss summons with 100% baits. Exactly one NPC asks for one: the Tourist on Island 3 — and he accepts any endangered creature.

• Fastest three to log: Needlefish, Seahorse and Bowlfish, all off the $15 Standard Lure
• Biggest single payday: Pufferfish, $12,000 base value behind 18,000 HP
• Best value per point of damage: Superdwarf Fish, $1,700 behind just 120 HP
• The row most players never see: an endangered kill pays 1.25x — unless you use dynamite

What the Endangered Flag Actually Does

The flag is one boolean on the creature data (Dazed Games ships no stat screen, so the build files are the only source), and it drives three systems: the Fishipedia tag, the Island 3 Tourist hand-in, and the killscore calculator.

That third one is the part nobody documents. CheckEndangered() pushes a 1.25x bonus row onto melee and ranged kills. Explosion kills run through a separate path that awards only the Explosion row (1.5x), and the endangered row never appears there.

The flag says nothing about price: a Needlefish is a $60 fish and a Bowlfish is $150. Endangered is a quest and collection marker, not a rarity tier — two of the nine are bosses, seven are ordinary rod catches.

Official source: How to Fish — Steam store page — the flag, the nine entries, the HP pools and the lure weight tables below are read from the shipped build files, not from community estimates.

All 9 Endangered Creatures: Full Stats

Two break the pattern: the Superdwarf Fish is the best damage-to-dollars trade in the game at roughly $14 of value per point of health, and the Seahorse restores 100 fullness despite selling for only $100.

Where Each Endangered Creature Comes From

Every endangered creature except the two bosses sits in a lure weight table, and each tier is sold on a different island. That is the honest answer to "where": the tier that can roll it, not a shoreline. The build files name no specific beach for these spawns, so treat any exact rock or depth as unverified.

The exact deep-water spots for the Oarfish and the Superdwarf Fish are not confirmed on the map yet. Both appear only in the Scientific Lure pool, and the all fish locations guide tracks what has actually been verified per species.

The Desert Tourist Chain (Island 3)

The Tourist is the only NPC who asks for an endangered creature. He stands on the far side of Island 3 — the Desert — leaning against a tree in an orange life preserver vest, and he will not go near the water.

His dialogue drops the requirement in one line: one of those endangered creatures would be cool, followed by you'll know it when you see it. He never names a species, and that is not a bug — the check accepts anything carrying the flag.

All three valid hand-ins come off Standard Lure casts on the Desert, so the quest resolves while you log the island's pool. The all quests guide puts this chain in sequence with the rest.

Verified by: How to Unlock All Islands — IGN wiki — confirms the Island 3 tourist accepts a Needlefish and hands back Carrot Bait in return.

Why Endangered Catches Pay More

Sale value stacks multiplicatively: base worth × body-weight roll × cooking × bet multiplier × killscore multiplier. The endangered row is a clean 1.25x inside that last term.

Run an Oarfish: $1,450 base, average weight, cooked at 1.5x, headshot kill with the endangered row — that lands near $3,400 from one catch, more than double the raw sale price.

Finishes that earn a killscore row are broken down in the trick shots guide. For the two bosses here, bring the right loadout: the Bing Bong guide covers a 2,000 HP mover with 75 contact damage, and the Pufferfish boss guide covers the wall gating Island 4.

Fishipedia: Where the Nine Sit

Seven of the nine are ordinary entries; Pufferfish and Bing Bong are boss summons. Expected casts are the reciprocal of each roll chance, so the averages run about 9 casts for a Needlefish, 23 for a Seahorse or Bowlfish, 26 each for the Voxel Fish and Dripper, 7 for an Oarfish and 10 for a Superdwarf Fish. Dry spells past double those numbers are normal, not broken.

Cleanest order: clear the Desert pool first, since three of the nine share one lure table, then the Rocks, then the Volcano. The Fishipedia checklist tracks the full 54-entry log, and the rare fish variants guide covers the gold-ripple and drip layers stacked on top of it.

Common Mistakes

• Selling the hand-in. A Needlefish in the wallet is $60; delivered to the Tourist it is Island 4 access.
• Farming the cheap ones. Needlefish and Bowlfish are collection entries, not income — target the Scientific and Professional tiers for money.
• Fishing the wrong tier. The Scientific Lure cannot roll a Seahorse and the Standard Lure cannot roll an Oarfish. Pool membership is fixed.
• Assuming the Tourist names a fish. He does not, which is why players who hand in their first Needlefish never notice there was a puzzle.

FAQ

How do I catch endangered creatures in How to Fish?

Match the lure to the target: the $15 Standard Lure rolls Needlefish, Seahorse and Bowlfish, the $50 Professional Lure rolls Voxel Fish and Dripper, and the $500 Scientific Lure rolls Oarfish and Superdwarf Fish. Pufferfish and Bing Bong are not cast rolls — the Carrot and Coconut summon them at 100%.

Which endangered creature does the Desert Tourist want?

Any of them. His dialogue only says one of those endangered creatures, and the check accepts a Needlefish, Seahorse or Bowlfish — all three come off the Standard Lure on Island 3. Hand one over and he gives you Carrot bait.

Where do I find the Oarfish and Superdwarf Fish?

Both appear only in the Scientific Lure weight table, the $500 Volcano-tier lure, at 15% and 10%. The specific depth and shoreline for each is not confirmed on the map yet, so buy the tier and fish its island.

Why is the Pufferfish worth $12,000?

It is a boss-tier entry with 18,000 HP and a guaranteed summon. The Carrot removes the RNG, so $12,000 is the payout for a long fight against a boss dealing 34 damage per hit on a 300-second timer.

Do endangered creatures give a bonus in How to Fish?

Yes, and it is a multiplier rather than a flat payout: a ranged or melee kill adds a 1.25x Endangered Species row to the killscore stack. Explosion kills skip it, so dynamite is the wrong farming tool.

Related Guides

• All Fish Locations — every species by island and bait
• Fishipedia Checklist — the 54-entry log these nine sit inside
• Rare Fish Variants — gold ripples and drip creatures
• All Quests and Missions — where the Tourist hand-in sits in sequence
• How to Fish Wiki — the full creature and bait database