Just how rare is a rare-colored lobster? Scientists say answer could be under the shell
A wave of odd-colored lobsters has showed up in fishers' traps, supermarket seafood tanks and scientists’ laboratories over the last year
BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — Orange, blue, calico, two-toned and ... cotton-candy colored?
Those are all the hues of lobsters that have showed up in fishers' traps, supermarket seafood tanks and scientists' laboratories over the last year. The funky-colored crustaceans inspire headlines that trumpet their rarity, with particularly uncommon baby blue-tinted critters described by some as "cotton-candy colored" often estimated at 1 in 100 million.
A recent wave of these curious colored lobsters in Maine, New York, Colorado and beyond has scientists asking just how atypical the discolored arthropods really are. As is often the case in science, it's complicated.
Lobsters' color can vary due to genetic and dietary differences, and estimates about how rare certain colors are should be taken with a grain of salt, said Andrew Goode, lead administrative scientist for the American Lobster Settlement Index at the University of Maine. There is also no definitive source on the occurrence of lobster coloration abnormalities, scientists said.
