Rare lobsters find their way into N.L. traps

Unusual lobsters emerging fromNewfoundland and Labrador waters in recent weekshas led to two separate harvesters showing off their spoils, and prompting scientific explanations.

In Port auChoix, Bern Gaslard got a shock when he hauled a bright blue specimen from the sea.

Roy Burton of Greenspondfound himself in possession of an even rarer find: a multi-clawed lobster, with a third, smaller set of pincers growing out of the "thumb" joint of one of the fully-formed claws.

Both catches are "more than likely a genetic mutation that's naturally occurring," explainedCyr Couturier, a researcher with the Marine Institute.

Different hues or extra appendages could be the result, he said, "when the DNA being replicated in the animal and it happens to be the programming for cell growth or colouration is a bit off."

These kinds of mutations, he added, appear rare, although he cautions it's difficult to estimate their numberswithout in-depth scientific scrutiny.

That's because lobsters evolved their muddy, greenish-brown shells in accordance with the murky colour of their underwater environment.Lobsters that can hide from predators in plain sight, after all, are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on their colouration genes,making blue or oddly-shaped onessimply less likely to stay alive until a harvester finds them.

Or so the theory goes.

Couturier pointedout that the fact these two captured specimens grew to maturity means their mutations probably didn't hinder their development.

"I would say it doesn't hinder them from obtaining food, nor does it hinder them from avoiding predators," he said.

What odds?

The probability of finding a blue-hued crustaceanis about one in two million, according toCouturier.In terms of how many lobstersthe province harvests each year, that translates into two or three such specimens annually.

Multi-clawed lobsters, however, are even rarer: only one in twenty million are thought to exist.

Despite the odds, "we've seen a number of lobsters like that in the last five or 10 years," Couturier says, with harvesters even pulling critters with up to six claws out of the water.

The Newfoundland and Labrador coast isn't the only area to encounter the mutant crustaceans.Further south, in 2016, a shipment of lobster from Nova Scotia yielded one with four claws, while a Prince Edward Island fisherman discovered a cobalt blue version a year later.

An albino lobster crawled its way into a New Brunswick trap in 2017 a lobster so rare, experts told CBC News, it's probably easier to win the the lottery than find one.

But if the numbers don't wow you, Couturier said, there's no need to panic about missing out on a delicious meal.

"The onlymutation, as far as we can tell, is in the pigment," he said.

"When you cook them, it doesn't matter if they're blue, green, yellow they will turn red when you cook them, and they taste just the same as every other lobster."

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