Rare Split-Colored Lobster Caught Off Massachusetts Coast
BOSTON (CBS) -- New England Aquarium researchers say a rare split-colored lobster has been caught by a Winthrop lobsterman off the coast of Massachusetts.
When lobsterman Domenic Spinale, Sr. checked the crustacean to see if it's an egg-bearing female, he discovered that it had different colors underneath on each side of its body.
The 25-year veteran lobsterman saw the lobster was the typical mottled dark brown of an uncooked lobster on the left, but it was yellowish-orange on the right. His deckhand banded the lobster and set it aside to be investigated later.
Domenic Spinale, Jr. contacted the aquarium.
According to researchers, the odds of finding a split-colored lobster is one in 50 million.
Marine biologist Bill Murphy said he wanted to see their lobster. He owns Pinchy, an orange-and-black lobster he received from a Salem lobsterman in 2012.
Pinchy, whose color pattern is the same both on top and on the bottom, is used in presentations with children at the aquarium, while the newly caught lobster just has the split coloring on the bottom. Aquarium lobster researchers say they've never seen this type of color arrangement pattern before and aren't sure what cause it to look that way.
The Spinale family visited the aquarium on Thursday to see his lobster and other lobsters with different color patterns. His grandchildren named the lobster Domenic.
Domenic the lobster will be quarantined for a month before being featured in live animal presentations with kids. The crustacean may also appear in New England marine animals exhibits.