Fishmongers buy extremely rare lobster and release it for a long ‘happy life’

An extremely rare bright blue lobster spotted by a French fishmonger was saved from the plate thanks to its unique hue.

The lobster was purchased by Les Viviers de Noirmoutier, a fish and seafood merchant from Saint-Gilles on France’s west coast, which helped bring the azure crustacean back to the deep.

“This lobster is rare because of its color, which is due to a genetic mutation. There is 1 case in 1 to 2 million,” explain Les Viviers de Noirmoutier. News week.

“We did our best to obtain this beautiful blue lobster (incidentally it is a small female), to avoid it being sold for culinary purposes,” said Les Viviers de Noirmoutier in a translated Facebook post, sharing photos of the rare lobster.

Lobsters typically have a darker, dull orange hue, turning bright orange when cooked. However, sometimes genetic mutations in genes that control shell color can give these crustaceans particularly vibrant colorations.

The color of a lobster’s shell is due to a pigment called astaxanthin, which gives it its red undertones, and crustacyanin, composed of astaxanthin bound to a protein, which gives bluer undertones, according to a 2005 study . New York Times report. Blue lobsters and other rare color morphs have an anomaly in the way these pigments are produced, giving them their strange colorations.

Blue lobsters are estimated to represent one in two million finds, while yellow lobsters represent one in 30 million finds and a bicolor lobster represents one in 50 million finds, according to the Lobster Institute of the Lobster Institute. University of Maine.

This rare and lucky lobster was returned to the sea by fish merchants, who helped it to be deposited in an area where fishing was regulated.

“We found, with the help of the Ile d’Yeu tourist office, a prohibited fishing zone around the island to release him, so that he can live a long, peaceful and happy life, with the help of Sébastien from the LNA boat to accompany us to our destination”, indicated Les Viviers de Noirmoutier in the caption.

“We couldn’t let her go without giving her a nickname! Please help us by suggesting names in the comments.”

Some commenters’ suggestions include Smurfette, Azurelle, and Sapphire.

Just last year, a Maine fisherman caught another blue lobster.

“I’ve never seen a blue lobster this bright or this pretty. We might see a lobster every now and then with a slight tinge of blue on a claw or tail maybe, but that’s it. It’s the first one I ever saw.”I saw that blue everywhere! And such a beautiful blue,” said Blake Haass, of Mount Desert Island. News week at the time. “I hope to find another blue lobster, but they are so rare that you only hear about them once in a while in the state of Maine.”

“I know a lot of my friends and older fishermen who have been fishing longer than me have never caught a blue lobster, so I feel lucky to have caught this one for sure!”

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