A six-clawed lobster caught off the coast of Massachusetts will get a cushy new home thanks to its strange impairment.
Instead of heading to the dinner table with the rest of the lobsters caught by fishermen off the coast of Hyannis, the six-clawed lobster is getting to live out its remaining days at the Maine State Aquarium .
The lobster, which has since been named Lola , made headlines for its bizarre appearance. Its right claw was split into a series of other, smaller claws, making it a kind of carnival freak of the sea.
At its new home in the Maine State Aquarium, the six-clawed lobster will have plenty of misfit friends. The aquarium takes in other strange and odd-looking lobsters, and is currently home to the ultra-rare two-toned lobsters.
But Lola, the six-clawed lobster is even more special than the oddly colored lobsters it will soon live with. David Libby, a marine scientist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources told the Bangor Daily News that the four-pound Lola is really a genetic marvel.
“Sometimes the genes will just get a little mixed and it will grow a funny claw,” he said. “But I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Lola, the six-clawed lobster will likely be quite a draw when she goes on display at the Maine State Aquarium, officials said. The aquarium, located in Boothbay Harbor midway down the state’s coastline, gets about 35,000 visitors each year.
The six-clawed lobster has already had a bit of a famous encounter. It was caught by Captain Peter Brown and fisherman Richard Figueiredo, whose boat, the Rachel Leah, is featured on the Discovery Channel reality show Lobster Wars .
