A super rare, blue lobster escapes the dinner plate
A new resident caused a sensation to the Nav Science Center in Northeastern University – Neptune, the blue lobster. Neptune is a super special crustaceans: the chances of catching a lobster with the Neptune shade are one in 200 million.
The Cerulean Crustacean is a seven -year -old American lobster (Homarus Americanus) which weighs approximately two pounds. In July, the lobster fisherman Brad Myslinski caught Neptune in Salem, Massachusetts. MySlinksi then contacted Dave Winchester, a local marine biology teacher, who connected it with the Marine Science Center team nearby.
Credit: Northeastern University.
“It took my breath away by seeing this bright blue lobster,” said Sierra Munoz, coordinator of the Marine Science Center awareness program Northeastern Global Nouveaus. “I saw some lobsters who have a little blue on them, but I have never seen one that is this electric blue.”
A group of secondary school students attending the Coastal Ocean Science Academy from the center earlier this summer was there when the Lapis Homard was delivered in July. Together, they voted on the name of Neptune after the Roman god of the sea, said Munoz.
What makes lobsters blue?
American lobsters like Neptune are generally a greenish brown in order to better camouflage themselves in rocky subtidal waters. Lobsters have several layers of a pigment called astaxanthine. This pigment appears as layers of red, yellow and blue. When all these layers of colors are stacked, they give lobsters a pattern spotted with oranges, red, blue, roses, violets, yellows and brown.
In colored crustaceans like Neptune, these colored pigments are not expressed or overexpressed, which, which resulted in blue (about 1 in 2 million), red (1 in 10 million), split color losters (1 in 50 million), albinos (1 in 100 million) and cotton barais (1 in 100 million).
The blue color is very rare in nature, partly because a real color or a blue pigment does not really exist in nature. According to biologists from the University of Adelaide in Australia, organisms that seem blue must absorb very small amounts of energy, while reflecting high -energy blue light at the same time. This process is quite complicated, so organisms that make expensive “genetic tips” to appear blue can hinder their growth, especially plants. It is not quite clear why a flora goes to the growth of trouble to be blue, but it is possible that a single color can help them attract pollinators like bees.
[ Related: Why blue animals are so rare in nature. ]
What is the next step for Neptune
Fortunately, Neptune will not find his way to a plate like many of his brothers. But if he was cooked, Munoz says he would turn the typical porridge red color. Instead, Neptune will live in the Rocky Aquaria Touch pool in the center, with some small fish on the side and sculpin, spider crabs and some green sea urchins.
“Neptune is doing a very good work in adjustment,” said Villanueva, a second -year doctorate at Northeastern University. “We recently built a cabin for him so that he can hide if he wants. We also limit the time that visitors spend with him. Lobsters are generally very lonely, so it is important that it has a space to withdraw. ”
American lobsters also have a long life expectancy. They can live more than 100 years, so Neptune could be a staple at the science center for the years to come.
“We are really, really grateful to Brad and Dave to have facilitated this gift for us, so hundreds and thousands of people may meet Neptune,” explains Munoz.
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