search
August 28, 2010

Saved by the shell – calico lobster gets new lease on life

By Beth Quimby bquimby@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

A rare calico lobster is on display at the Portland Lobster Co. on Commercial Street.

click image to enlarge

Larry and Crystal Dunne of Saco caught this calico lobster off the coast of Cape Elizabeth a few days ago. It is being kept at the Portland Lobster Co. in Portland, with orders not to eat it, while the Dunnes look for a home for it.

The creature is sporting a mottled orange and black shell rather than the usual deep green and red.

The lobster was caught by Larry and Crystal Dunne, who fish for lobster out of Portland. The Saco couple pulled it up a couple of days ago off Cape Elizabeth while aboard their boat, the Bushwacker.

Portland Lobster Co. is boarding the calico crustacean until the Dunnes can find it a new home.

"We have him in a bay of the tank with little notes to our kitchen staff not to cook him. I am really nervous," said Ethan Morgan, the manager of Portland Lobster Co.

Calico lobsters are one of the rarest of miscolored lobsters. A blue lobster is one in a million and a yellow or orange is one in 30 million, said Diane Cowan lobster scientist and the founder of the Lobster Conservancy in Friendship.

Calicos are even rarer. Only albinos are rarer, though just how rare is anyone's guess.

"But nobody really knows," said Cowan.

Cowan said discolored shells are a genetic trait. In her 25 years of research, she has only seen two or three calicos, presents to her from local fishermen.

The Maine State Aquarium in West Boothbay Harbor has a tank filled with unusual lobsters, half multi-colored and half normal. The lobsters have been donated by lobstermen, said Aimee Hayden-Roderiques, aquarium manager.

She said she hears it is good luck to catch a miscolored lobster and bad luck to eat one.

Crystal Dunne said she and her husband are working their way through the entire lobster color spectrum. Her husband has caught both blue and yellow specimens in the past.

Finding a permanent home for the calico creature may be harder than usual this summer. The Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland has so many donations, including an albino lobster donated by Portland lobsterman Dave Laliberte this summer, it has run out of room.

Alan Lishness, the institute's chief innovation office, said he doesn't know why so many off-colored lobsters are turning up off the Maine coast this year.

"This is an unusual summer," Lishness said.

 

Staff Writer Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at: bquimby@pressherald.com

 

Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form

Send Question/Comment to the Publisher




Further Discussion

Here at PressHerald.com we value our readers and are committed to growing our community by encouraging you to add to the discussion. To ensure conscientious dialogue we have implemented a strict no-bullying policy. To participate, you must follow our Terms of Use.

Questions about the article? Add them below and we’ll try to answer them or do a follow-up post as soon as we can. Technical problems? Email them to us with an exact description of the problem. Make sure to include:
  • Type of computer or mobile device your are using
  • Exact operating system and browser you are viewing the site on (TIP: You can easily determine your operating system here.)


Most...