Have you ever heard of a ‘Cotton Candy’ Lobster? Neither had Billy Kirby, the owner of Kirby’s Lobster Shack in Maine.
He and his crew were just as surprised to find the unique-looking crustacean in their trap as I was to find out it exists.
The veteran lobsterman had insane odds of catching one. It will soon be on display at the local aquarium.
What is a ‘Cotton Candy’ Lobster?
A ‘cotton candy’ lobster is exactly the same as a regular lobster, except for its color. Its shell often has shades of blue, pink, purple, white and even orange. The coloring creates a pattern that resembles cotton candy. They obviously look very different than their typical greenish-brown colleagues.
The unusual coloring is caused by a genetic mutation that affects the pigments of the shell. Nobody quite knows why it happens. However, the color of a lobster shell is normally bound to a naturally-occurring pigment called astaxanthin. By itself, astaxanthin is reddish-orange in color. If the astaxanthin attaches to a protein called crustacyanin, it can change the way the pigment absorbs and reflects light.
In a cotton candy lobster, genetic differences create differences in the amount, distribution and/or interaction of the pigments and proteins. As a result, the shell develops an unusual color. It does not contain the same amount of compounds that are responsible for dark coloration. The lighter, underlying colors become much more visible.
The patchwork pattern is also important. Because the genetic mutation does not affect every cell in the exact same way, different regions of the lobster’s shell can end up with different concentrations or combinations of pigments. A pale blue color might be featured next to a pink color, which might be featured next to a white color, and so on and so forth. It varies.
Interestingly enough, researchers do not know exactly why the cotton candy lobster is different in this way. They have not identified a single mutation that is responsible for the unusual appearance.
A lobsterman in Maine defied 1-in-100 million odds!
Researchers genuinely believe there is one cotton candy lobster for every 100,000,000 lobsters. Bill Kirby had a 0.000001% chance of pulling one out of the ocean. He and his crew caught one in their trap earlier this week.
Kirby did not think much of the cotton candy lobster when he first pulled his trap. Maybe it was weird lighting. No big deal.
And then he noticed the difference in color. There was one lobster that looked very different from the others.
“It was a normal day of hauling and going along, and it was a nice day out, too. We were just talking and going about our regular business. And that first trap that came up, when he swung it around — it had other lobsters in it as well — and that one was just like there was a light on. It just glowed, you know.”
As soon as Kirby confirmed it was big enough to keep, he put it in the tank next to the rest of the lobsters. At that point, it became clear that he had caught something special. The color popped. It stood out.
“You’re looking at it and it’s one thing, you know, but then I threw it in the tank with the rest of the lobsters and it didn’t even look real.”
Kirby plans to donate the cotton candy lobster to the Oceanarium and Education Center in Bar Harbor. No, it is not for sale.
“It’s major. And it’s not just to see lobsters like that, but it’s to keep the industry going for our kids. We have to protect it. Us as fishermen, we’re the ones that have to make it work. We have to look out for it. That way, our kids, if they want to fish or they choose to, or other people’s children, they’ll have an opportunity to come out here and do the same thing I do every day.”
In the meantime, you can go see the lobster at Kirby’s Lobster Shack in Belfast, Maine!