Rare blue lobster found off Cornwall coast

Image source, Pete Spencer

Image caption, Polperro fisherman Chris Puckey and fishmonger Jacqueline Spencer decided to give the electric blue lobster to a local aquarium
  • Author, Lisa Young
  • Role, BBC News, Cornwall

A rare blue lobster has been landed off the south Cornish coast.

Fisherman Chris Puckey found the hen in one of his pots off Polperro on Sunday.

The lobsters are electric blue due to a genetic abnormality that causes them to overproduce a certain protein.

An expert from Oxford University's zoology department said the chance of catching a blue lobster was estimated at about one-in-two-million.

Image source, Pete Spencer

Image caption, The lobster's rare blue colour is a result of the overproduction of a certain protein, zoologists from Oxford University say

Mr Puckey and Polperro fishmonger Jacqueline Spencer decided to give the lobster to a local aquarium so it could be protected.

LISTEN: Fishmonger Jacqueline Spencer tells BBC Radio Cornwall about the unusual catch

Ms Spencer said: "We were concerned it may get caught again in another pot or even be eaten by another lobster."

She said they hoped the crustacean could "live out its life peacefully and be protected from predators" at the aquarium.

The carapace, or top section of the lobster measured over 87mm, meaning Mr Puckey was not required to return it to the sea.

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