NH man snares rare, cobalt-blue lobster

[August 22, 2009]  PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) -- At first, New Hampshire lobsterman Bill Marconi thought he had caught a shiny blue beer can in his trap. It turns out it was a rare, cobalt-blue lobster.

The 52-year-old lobsterman was out hauling 400 traps with his son Wednesday when he snared the 1 1/2-pound lobster in between his dock and the Isle of Shoals, about six miles off the coast.

New England Aquarium Research Director Mike Tlusty told Foster's Daily Democrat only one in 5 million lobsters are blue.

Tlusty said blue lobsters are different in that they are better at processing astaxanthin, an antioxidant with a red pigment derived from algae. The substance bonds with proteins in the lobster's shell, resulting in the blue pigment.

Marconi donated his lobster to the Seacoast Science Center.

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Information from: Foster's Daily Democrat, http://www.fosters.com

[Associated Press]

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