A rare one-in-a-million lobster was caught off the coast of New Hampshire, leaving the fisherman who pulled it from the water in shock.
Joseph Kramer, 25, was working in New Castle when he brought in a beautiful “cotton candy crab” with a unique blue, pink and purple exterior.
The crustacean’s iridescent color is either the result of a genetic mutation or its diet, but the different hues also make the animal a target for predators.
To prevent the lobster from becoming someone’s dinner or dying if released back into the sea, Kramer gave it to the nonprofit Seacoast Science Center, where the crustacean could live out the rest of its life.
A 25-year-old lobster business owner caught a cotton candy lobster off the coast of New Hampshire on Sunday
A lobster’s diet can affect its color, resulting in a rare and unique blue, pink, and purple genetic mutation that makes it a target for other predators because it cannot blend in with its surroundings
Kramer, owner of the Atlantic Lobster Company, called it a “once-in-a-lifetime feeling” after he found the cotton candy lobster in the last of his 20 traps on Sunday while on his boat with his father and girlfriend.
He first thought it was a one-in-a-million blue crab, but later the Seacoast Science Center told him it was a rare cotton candy crab.
“This one has a beautiful lavender, purple and pink hue, which puts it in the cotton candy category,” said Sam Rutka, an aquarist II at the Seacoast Science Center. Seacoastonline.
Crayfish have layers of red, yellow, and blue carotenoid pigments that are produced by plants and algae. These pigments give the crayfish its color, making them appear brown to the human eye.
However, when these pigments develop in excess or in excess, different types of lobsters with bright colors can arise, such as the lobster that is red one in ten times, the lobster that is bicolored, and the lobster that is albino one in a hundred million times.
The crustaceans get these pigments from an antioxidant called astaxanthin – a type of red dye – which, when mixed with the carotenoids, gives them the characteristic brown hue.
The color turns red when the lobster is cooked, because the heat releases the antioxidants.
The dramatic change in the color of the cotton candy crayfish may be the result of the crayfish’s unusually low astaxanthin levels as a result of being fed a different diet of baitfish than its typical diet of crabs and shrimp rich in the compound.
The Seacoast Science Center said it hopes to have the cotton candy lobster on display at its facility in Rye, New Hampshire, within the next two to three weeks.
However, the dramatic change in the color of the cotton candy crayfish may be due to unusually low astaxanthin levels. This is because the crayfish was fed a different diet of baitfish than its usual diet of crabs and shrimp, which are rich in the compound.
“Genetic mutations are a normal part of nature,” Rutka told Seacoastonline.
‘These animals have mutations that give them different color genes in their shells, making them more vulnerable to predators.
‘It’s also rare because it’s easier for predators to spot. That increases the chance of finding one because it means no one else has found it yet to eat it.’
The Seacoast Science Center said it hopes to have the cotton candy lobster on display at its facility in Rye, New Hampshire, within two to three weeks.
In the meantime, the facility has placed the crustacean in a quarantine tank so it can acclimatize to its new environment after capture.
“I think this is absolutely the only one I will ever see, maybe even the only one I will ever see in my life,” Kramer told Seacoastonline.
“I’m so glad I got to experience it. And now that everyone in the Science Center can see it, it’s even more fun.”
“Knowing that the animal will spend its time in safety, I think this is the best place to keep it and preserve it.”