Aberrations

Aberrations are mutated variants of fish in DREDGE that are more difficult to find than their "normal" counterparts. They are described by the Fishmonger as 'corrupted', by the in-game text as 'grotesque', and are the first sign in the game that something is not right. The purple text box used in descriptions of Aberrated fish (same background color of inventory tiles for Aberrations, similar to Trophy fish) is described in the options as 'Important Color'. Aberrant Fish are worth significantly more than their normal counterparts.

Aberrant Fish can be found in patches of disturbed water, especially those that contain embers and a glowing blue distortion below them. It is implied that Aberrations are incubators of some sort (e.g. the Cyclopean Flounder 's embedded egg, the implications of the Brood Squid and Host Eel etc) Some aberrated fish also look like radioactively mutated animals (e.g. the Lumpy Mackerel and the Tusked Grouper), while others (e.g. the All-Seeing Cod, the Snag Squid and the Shard Ray) are simply strange.

84 out of 151 (55.63%) of the fish in the base game and 11 out of 23 (47.82%) of the fish in the Pale Reach DLC are Aberrations of other, normal fish. There are aberrant versions of all fish (including crabs) EXCEPT for the five Exotic Fish.

Encyclopaedia

Fish	Number	Image	Location	Type	Time	Aberration Of	Value per Slot	Rod	Trawl	Pot
Grotesque Mackerel	79		The Marrows		Day	Blue Mackerel	$15.00	Yes	Yes	No
Lumpy Mackerel	80		The Marrows		Day	Blue Mackerel	$17.50	Yes	Yes	No
Many-Eyed Mackerel	81		The Marrows		Day	Blue Mackerel	$20.00	Yes	Yes	No
All-Seeing Cod	82		The Marrows		Day	Cod	$16.67	Yes	Yes	No
Fanged Cod	83		The Marrows		Day	Cod	$20.00	Yes	Yes	No
Three-Headed Cod	84		The Marrows		Day	Cod	$23.33	Yes	Yes	No
Brood Squid	85		The Marrows		Night	Arrow Squid	$16.00	Yes	Yes	No
Snag Squid	86		The Marrows		Night	Arrow Squid	$19.00	Yes	Yes	No
Barbed Eel	87		The Marrows		Day	Grey Eel	$16.67	Yes	Yes	No
Host Eel	88		The Marrows		Day	Grey Eel	$20.00	Yes	Yes	No
Cyclopean Flounder	89		The Marrows		Day	Gulf Flounder	$15.00	Yes	Yes	No
Riddled Flounder	90		The Marrows		Day	Gulf Flounder	$17.50	Yes	Yes	No
Tusked Grouper	91		The Marrows		Night	Black Grouper	$21.25	Yes	Yes	No
Voltaic Grouper	92		The Marrows		Night	Black Grouper	$25.00	Yes	Yes	No
Shard Ray	93		The Marrows		Any	Stingray	$21.43	Yes	No	No
Sallow Sailfish	94		The Marrows		Day	Sailfish	$38.89	Yes	Yes	No
Hooked Sailfish	95		The Marrows		Day	Sailfish	$41.67	Yes	Yes	No
Bloodskin Shark	96		The Marrows		Day	Bronze Whaler	$36.67	Yes	Yes	No
Cleft-Mouth Shark	97		The Marrows		Night	Blacktip Reef Shark	$45.83	Yes	Yes	No
Cerebral Crab	98		The Marrows		Any	Common Crab	$15.00	No	No	Yes
Malignant Pincer	99		The Marrows		Any	Fiddler Crab	$14.00	No	No	Yes
Gnashing Perch	100		Gale Cliffs		Day	Oceanic Perch	$17.00	Yes	Yes	No
Flayed Mackerel	101		Gale Cliffs		Day	Tiger Mackerel	$17.50	Yes	Yes	No
Bearded Mackerel	102		Gale Cliffs		Day	Tiger Mackerel	$22.50	Yes	Yes	No
Scouring Bass	103		Gale Cliffs		Night	Black Sea Bass	$17.50	Yes	Yes	No
Gelatinous Stonefish	104		Gale Cliffs		Day	Stonefish	$11.25	Yes	Yes	No
Enthralled Stonefish	105		Gale Cliffs		Day	Stonefish	$11.25	Yes	Yes	No
Decaying Blackmouth	106		Gale Cliffs		Day	Blackmouth Salmon	$16.67	Yes	Yes	No
Sprouting Eel	107		Gale Cliffs		Night	Conger Eel	$23.00	Yes	No	No
Withered Ray	108		Gale Cliffs		Night	Devil Ray	$15.00	Yes	Yes	No
Translucent Sturgeon	109		Gale Cliffs		Day	Sturgeon	$23.75	Yes	Yes	No
Shattered Wreckfish	110		Gale Cliffs		Day	Wreckfish	$20.00	Yes	No	No
Bony Wreckfish	111		Gale Cliffs		Day	Wreckfish	$23.33	Yes	No	No
Splintered Crab	112		Gale Cliffs		Any	Rock Crab	$12.50	No	No	Yes
Cortex Decorator	113		Gale Cliffs		Any	Decorator Crab	$10.00	No	No	Yes
Parhelion Jellyfish	114		Stellar Basin		Night	Aurora Jellyfish	$6.25	No	Yes	No
Cursed Fangtooth	115		Stellar Basin		Any	Fangtooth	$24.00	Yes	No	No
Voideye	116		Stellar Basin		Any	Barreleye	$20.00	Yes	No	No
Radiant Squid	117		Stellar Basin		Night	Firefly Squid	$25.00	Yes	Yes	No
Blood Snapper	118		Stellar Basin		Day	Red Snapper	$15.00	Yes	Yes	No
Latching Snapper	119		Stellar Basin		Day	Red Snapper	$20.00	Yes	Yes	No
Ruptured Vessel	120		Stellar Basin		Any	Giant Amphipod	$30.00	Yes	No	No
Perished Loosejaw	121		Stellar Basin		Any	Loosejaw	$21.67	Yes	No	No
Calcified Snailfish	122		Stellar Basin		Any	Snailfish	$28.33	Yes	No	No
Seizing Snailfish	123		Stellar Basin		Any	Snailfish	$30.00	Yes	No	No
Consumed Grouper	124		Stellar Basin		Day	Coral Grouper	$20.00	Yes	No	No
Medusa Octopus	125		Stellar Basin		Night	Glowing Octopus	$23.75	Yes	No	Yes
Bursting Anglerfish	126		Stellar Basin		Any	Anglerfish	$27.50	Yes	No	No
Savage Barracuda	127		Stellar Basin		Day	Barracuda	$20.00	Yes	No	No
Concertina Barracuda	128		Stellar Basin		Day	Barracuda	$18.00	Yes	No	No
Gazing Shark	129		Stellar Basin		Any	Hammerhead Shark	$47.22	Yes	No	No
Crown of Nadir	130		Stellar Basin		Any	Crown of Thorns	$17.78	No	No	Yes
Entangled Crab	131		Stellar Basin		Any	Blue Crab	$15.00	No	No	Yes
Imperious Lobster	132		Stellar Basin		Any	Spiny Lobster	$15.00	No	No	Yes
Entwined Mullet	133		Twisted Strand		Any	Grey Mullet	$15.00	Yes	Yes	No
Gleaming Mullet	134		Twisted Strand		Any	Grey Mullet	$22.50	Yes	Yes	No
Blistered Tarpon	135		Twisted Strand		Any	Tarpon	$20.00	Yes	Yes	No
Vortex Interloper	136		Twisted Strand		Day	Sergeant Fish	$23.33	Yes	Yes	No
Clawfin Gar	137		Twisted Strand		Day	Gar	$25.00	Yes	Yes	No
Grinning Gar	138		Twisted Strand		Day	Gar	$27.50	Yes	Yes	No
Twinned Eels	139		Twisted Strand		Night	Longfin Eel	$31.00	Yes	No	No
Nightwing Catfish	140		Twisted Strand		Night	Catfish	$30.00	Yes	Yes	No
Effigy Crab	141		Twisted Strand		Any	Horseshoe Crab	$12.50	No	No	Yes
Mire Screecher	142		Twisted Strand		Any	Giant Mud Crab	$16.67	No	No	Yes
Ossified Searobin	143		Devil's Spine		Day	Armored Searobin	$18.33	Yes	Yes	No
Infernal Eel	144		Devil's Spine		Night	Cusk Eel	$26.67	Yes	Yes	No
Serpentine Mackerel	145		Devil's Spine		Any	Snake Mackerel	$16.67	Yes	Yes	No
Tattered Mackerel	146		Devil's Spine		Any	Snake Mackerel	$20.00	Yes	Yes	No
Defaced Skate	147		Devil's Spine		Day	Pale Skate	$27.00	Yes	Yes	No
Rapt Shark	148		Devil's Spine		Any	Ghost Shark	$30.00	Yes	No	No
Twisted Shark	149		Devil's Spine		Any	Frilled Shark	$50.00	Yes	No	No
Grasping Snail	150		Devil's Spine		Any	Volcano Snail	$16.00	No	No	Yes
Sable Reacher	151		Devil's Spine		Any	Squat Lobster	$20.00	No	No	Yes
Umbral Puppet	152		Devil's Spine		Any	Spider Crab	$19.29	No	No	Yes
Anchovy King	153		Open Ocean		Any	Anchovy	$18.00	No	Yes	No
Leeching Prawn	154		Open Ocean		Any	Scarlet Prawn	$15.00	No	Yes	Yes
Razormouth Tuna	155		Open Ocean		Any	Blackfin Tuna	$25.00	Yes	Yes	No
Decrepit Viperfish	156		Open Ocean		Any	Viperfish	$20.00	Yes	No	No
Collapsed Viperfish	157		Open Ocean		Any	Viperfish	$10.00	Yes	No	No
Skeletal Moonfish	158		Open Ocean		Night	Moonfish	$27.50	Yes	No	No
Beaked Moonfish	159		Open Ocean		Night	Moonfish	$31.25	Yes	No	No
Congealed Rattail	160		Open Ocean		Any	Rattail	$26.00	Yes	No	No
Charred Sunfish	161		Open Ocean		Day	Ocean Sunfish	$30.56	Yes	No	No
Glaring Sunfish	162		Open Ocean		Day	Ocean Sunfish	$33.33	Yes	No	No
Fractalline Icefish	163		The Pale Reach		Any	Icefish	$17.50	Yes	Yes	No
Thawed Icefish	164		The Pale Reach		Any	Icefish	$22.50	Yes	Yes	No
Astral Icefish	165		The Pale Reach		Any	Icefish	$27.50	Yes	Yes	No
Bubbling Char	166		The Pale Reach		Any	Char	$14.67	Yes	No	No
Hinged Wolffish	167		The Pale Reach		Night	Wolffish	$20.00	Yes	No	No
Craterous Seer	168		The Pale Reach		Any	Stargazer	$18.75	No	Yes	No
Feral Lizardfish	169		The Pale Reach		Any	Lizardfish	$24.00	Yes	Yes	No
Bulbous Toothfish	170		The Pale Reach		Any	Toothfish	$23.33	Yes	No	No
Grisly Shark	171		The Pale Reach		Any	Goblin Shark	$37.00	Yes	No	No
Pale Grasper	172		The Pale Reach		Any	Colossal Squid	$45.45	No	Yes	No
Fallen Stars	173		The Pale Reach		Any	Sea Stars	$20.00	No	No	Yes
King's Wreath	174		The Pale Reach		Any	King Crab	$21.25	No	No	Yes

Catching Strategies

Trying to catch Grotesque Fish from non-glowing, disturbed water can be irritating (glowing water will always contain an Aberration; you just have to fish it up), due to the low chance of success and the requirement to perform the catching minigame perfectly. However, leaving the fishing minigame after making a mistake allows you another opportunity to catch an aberrated fish.

This info is especially useful while trying to fill the encyclopaedia, as certain fish spawn in a few locations with only 1-2 fish per disturbed water patch (e.g. Devil Rays, Hammerhead Sharks, etc.).

Additionally, Atrophy will almost always generate an aberration. While the cooldown is long, using Atrophy will highly Increase the chance of getting an aberration out of any fishing spot that you like, given that your target species has an aberration. This is especially useful for hard-to-find species such as the Moonfish.

Pursuits

Main Article: Pursuits

The pursuit Grotesque Fish has you bring an Aberration (no matter which) to the Fishmonger. He slits it open and finds the handkerchief, which he gives to you (this unlocks the Collector's mission). The pursuit Caught to Order involves giving another Aberrated fish to the Fishmonger, and it is implied he eats it. Afterwards, he doesn't feel well but seems to be fine as usual in later days.

Achievements

Main Article: Achievements

Aberration Attractor

Catch all Aberrations

Cold Corruptions

Catch all aberrations in The Pale Reach.

Trivia

13 aberrations could be found in the demo: 3 for the Blue Mackerel (Grotesque Mackerel, Lumpy Mackerel and Many-Eyed Mackerel), 3 for the Cod (All-Seeing Cod, Fanged Cod and Three-Headed Cod), 2 for the Grey Eel (Barbed Eel and Host Eel), 2 for the Gulf Flounder (Cyclopean Flounder and Riddled Flounder), 2 for the Arrow Squid (Snag Squid and Brood Squid), 2 for the Black Grouper (Tusked Grouper and Voltaic Grouper) and 1 for the Stingray (Shard Ray).