The catalogue value of a creature is its average, not its price. Each one that comes out of the water carries a weight multiplier drawn at the moment it spawns, and that multiplier scales both the weight shown on the fish and the money it sells for.
The roll
The game draws from a normal distribution centred on 1, then clamps the result so it can never fall below a quarter or rise above one and three quarters.
| Weight roll | Share of catches | Roughly one catch in |
|---|---|---|
| At or above 1.15x | 15.9% | 6 |
| At or above 1.3x | 2.3% | 44 |
| At or above 1.5x | 0.04% | 2,331 |
| At or above 1.7x | 0.00% | 653,327 |
Most catches land close to the middle. The tails are where the money is, and they are thin on purpose: the standard deviation is small enough that a genuinely heavy fish is a real event rather than something you see every few casts.
What the percentages mean Roughly two thirds of catches land within 15% of the catalogue weight. Anything over 1.5x is rare enough that you will remember it.
What that is worth in money
The same multiplier scales the sell price, so the spread on a valuable fish is large in absolute terms.
| Creature | Sells for | Weight range | Best bait for it |
|---|---|---|---|
 Superdwarf Fish | $2,200 | 0.000025 kg – 0.000175 kg | Scientific Lure (10%) |
 Oarfish | $1,450 | 10 kg – 70 kg | Scientific Lure (15%) |
 Stonefish | $1,500 | 12.5 kg – 87.5 kg | Scientific Lure (25%) |
 Anglerfish | $1,500 | 20 kg – 140 kg | Scientific Lure (25%) |
 Dripper | $380 | 1.1 kg – 7.9 kg | Professional Lure (3.8%) |
 Cod | $10 | 1 kg – 7 kg | Beginner Lure (17.5%) |
A Superdwarf FishSuperdwarf FishSells for$2,200Health120Weight0.000025 kg – 0.000175 kg at the bottom of its range and one at the top
differ by more than most players earn in an early session.
The creatures that never roll
Three creatures skip the roll entirely and always weigh and sell exactly the same: the
ClamClamSells for$1Health0Weight0.05 kg, the 
FootsnailFootsnailSells for$12Health0Weight0.05 kg and the
LeechLeechSells for$4Health0Weight0.05 kg. All three are picked up from the ground rather than
hooked. Every boss rolls like any other catch, which is why a Spider Crab can weigh anything
from a quarter to almost twice its catalogue figure.
| Creature | Weight range | Sells for |
|---|---|---|
| Clam | 0.05 kg | $1 |
| Footsnail | 0.05 kg | $12 |
| Leech | 0.05 kg | $4 |
Why some fish weigh almost nothing
Two creatures are modelled at a ten thousandth of a kilogram, so their displayed weight stays near zero whatever they roll.
| Creature | Weight range | Sells for | Best bait for it |
|---|---|---|---|
 Needlefish | 0.000025 kg – 0.000175 kg | $60 | Standard Lure (11.6%) |
| Superdwarf Fish | 0.000025 kg – 0.000175 kg | $2,200 | Scientific Lure (10%) |
 Shrimp | 0.00375 kg – 0.03 kg | $5 | Crab-Fishing Rod with no bait (44.4%) |
 Seahorse | 100 kg – 700 kg | $100 | Standard Lure (4.3%) |
The SeahorseSeahorseSells for$100Health350Weight100 kg – 700 kg is the opposite extreme and the strangest entry in
the game: it is modelled at 400 kg, heavier than every fish except the whales, while selling
for a hundred dollars.
When you inspect a creature the game marks some of them as an endangered species. That marker does one mechanical thing: it adds a 1.25x bonus to the kill, which multiplies into the price the creature sells for.
Endangered species pay a quarter more
| Creature | Sells for | Best chance | Best bait for it |
|---|---|---|---|
 Pufferfish | $12,000 | 100% | Carrot (100%) |
| Superdwarf Fish | $2,200 | 10% | Scientific Lure (10%) |
| Oarfish | $1,450 | 15% | Scientific Lure (15%) |
| Dripper | $380 | 3.8% | Professional Lure (3.8%) |
 Voxelfish | $340 | 3.8% | Professional Lure (3.8%) |
 Bing Bong | $300 | 100% | Coconut (100%) |
 Bowlfish | $150 | 4.3% | Standard Lure (4.3%) |
| Seahorse | $100 | 4.3% | Standard Lure (4.3%) |
| Needlefish | $60 | 11.6% | Standard Lure (11.6%) |
Three of them sit on the 
Standard LureStandard LureCosts$15Bite timer1–2.5sCatches10 creatures table and three on the
Professional LureProfessional LureCosts$50Bite timer1–2sCatches12 creatures, which makes the mid-game lures better earners than
their raw averages suggest.
The bonus is automatic
You do not have to do anything to earn it. Where a headshot or a longshot depends on how the kill goes, the endangered bonus is attached to the creature itself and applies to every kill on one, however unglamorous.
It also stacks with everything else. An endangered fish killed at range, in the air, is carrying three multipliers at once, and the game multiplies rather than adds them.
Worth knowing
The bonus scales the sell value, so it is worth the most on the expensive entries. A quarter
added to a Superdwarf FishSuperdwarf FishSells for$2,200Health120Weight0.000025 kg – 0.000175 kg is worth more than the entire base
value of a NeedlefishNeedlefishSells for$60Health130Weight0.000025 kg – 0.000175 kg.
Where the list comes from
The flag is set per creature in the game’s own data rather than derived from anything you can
see in the world. That is why the list looks arbitrary: a
NeedlefishNeedlefishSells for$60Health130Weight0.000025 kg – 0.000175 kg is flagged and a 
ClownfishClownfishSells for$46Health140Weight0.03 kg – 0.18 kg
is not, despite sitting on the same table at similar odds.
The two that are not fished normally
PufferfishPufferfishSells for$12,000Health18,000Weight0.25 kg – 1.8 kg is the most valuable entry on the list and it is a
boss, summoned with the 
CarrotCarrotCostsQuest rewardBite timer1–2.5sCatchesPufferfish. Bing BongBing BongSells for$300Health2,000Weight1.3 kg – 8.8 kg
is summoned with the 
CoconutCoconutCosts$350Bite timer1–2.5sCatchesBing Bong and is the one endangered creature the
Fishipedia does not track, so catching it does nothing for your journal count.
Everything else on the list is a regular catch you can farm from a lure table.
Where weight fits with everything else
The weight roll is only one of the multipliers on the final price. It is multiplied by how well the catch was cooked, by any betting multiplier it carries, and by the product of every kill bonus you earned. The money guide covers the bonuses, which are the part you control.