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About this media| title: | Rare 1 in 50 million 2-toned lobster caught off the coast of newport | | desc: | Lobster man Jim Mataronas IV woke up
Monday morning hoping for a lucky day on
the water, but all the luck materialized
in a single lobster. Jim described the
day's catch off Newport, R.I., as
average, save for one lobster so unique
the chances of his catching it were one
in 50 million.
"I pulled it out and
thought someone was playing a joke on
us. It looked like someone took a ruler
right down it," the Little Compton
resident said. "It looks half-cooked."
Mataronas, the son of veteran lobster
trapper Jim Mataronas III of the
family-owned Sakonnet Lobster Co., said
the closest thing he had seen to
something this rare was the popular blue
lobster, a less-rare occurance but still
nothing to take lightly. The chances of
catching a blue lobster are still one in
two million.
The lobster caught is a
specimen with half its body being of
normal, mottled brown color. The other
half is a bright red, a result of a
genetic condition. Ed Baker of the
Office of Marine Programs at the
University of Rhode Island described the
process: "Selection for pigmentation
starts at the first cell division of the
embryo. Genes from one pigment went to
one cell while the others went to the
other. All subsequent divisions carry
the same information." The mutation
results in the unique appearance. The
two sides of the lobster developed
independently with the red side having a
lack of the blue pigment crustacyanin.
The color of a lobster's shell is a mix
of yellow, red, and blue, a combination
that results in the usual brownish-green
color of most lobsters. The lack of blue
and yellow resulted in the unusual
surprise.
Normally, the family would
keep the rarer lobsters on display to
the delight of walk-in customers.
However, in this special circumstance,
Jim Mataronas III said, "We'll give it
to a good home." He mentioned Mystic
Aquarium in Connecticut and Boston's New
England Aquarium. | | tags | lobster two toned lobsters rare catch fish ocean odd |
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