One-in-100 Million Lobster Caught
A lobster with a unique blue-pink-purple coloring has been caught off the coast of the American state of New Hampshire. The color, nicknamed “Cotton Candy” (“cotton candy”), occurs once in 100 million among these animals!
Now this miracle lobster lives in a science center next to similar lobsters of unusual colors
A unique blue-pink-purple lobster got into the nets of 25-year-old fisherman Joseph Kramer (Joseph Kramer) off the coast of New Castle in New Hampshire, USA. The man was extremely surprised by the unusually bright coloration of the crustacean, so he decided to contact scientists from Seacoast Science Center.
At first Kramer thought he had caught a blue lobster, which occurs once in two million. But later it turned out that the animal had a “cottontail kandy” coloration, which is much rarer – one in a hundred million.
Genetic mutations: the source of bright colors
This male lobster represents an extremely rare color variation. The coloration of animals can vary greatly due to random genetic mutations.
Lobsters have carotenoid pigments in red, yellow, and blue that often give them a reddish or brownish hue. In rare cases, some of the pigments show up too much or not at all, resulting in a whole rainbow of lobster colors.
Thus, blue lobsters occur about once in two million, bright red lobsters once in 10 million, bi-colored lobsters once in 50 million, and albinos and “cotton candy” lobsters once in 100 million.
However, the researchers said, “these numbers are calculated based on the number of ways these genes are normally expressed in nature, not on how often they occur in the wild.”
Seacoast Science Center is home to lobsters with unusual color variations, including blue, orange, bicolor, and the recently arrived cottontail kandy. These lobsters are used for public displays and educational purposes, helping scientists and nature lovers better understand the phenomenon of rare color mutations in these amazing creatures.
Source: One-in-100 Million Lobster Caught