How Rare is This ‘Cotton Candy’ Lobster Found in New Hampshire?

A very rare lobster called 'cotton candy' was caught off of New Castle, New Hampshire.

Seacoast Online says that Joseph Kramer, who's a merchant marine, caught a rare cotton candy lobster off of New Castle. The Seacoast Science Center says it's extremely rare as in 1-in-100 million.

That looks like a blue lobster caught in New Hampshire. That's rare, but not extremely rare.

Blue lobsters are indeed rare. The New England Aquarium estimates it's one in every 2 million lobsters. It's cool to have a blue lobster and Kramer kept it to bring it to a local aquarium. That's when he learned that this was a once-in-a-lifetime catch. It is a cotton candy lobster. At the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, that's where he learned it was a super rare lobster.

READ MORE: LOOK: Rare Orange Lobster With Only One Claw Caught in Maine

Kramer told Seacoast Online,

Now I think it is definitely the only one I will ever catch, maybe even the only one I will ever see again in my lifetime. I’m over the moon about catching it, and letting it be seen by everyone at the Science Center makes it even better. Knowing that it will spend its time in safety I think is the best place for it to be kept and preserved.

What makes a lobster a 'cotton candy' rare lobster?

Seacoast Science Center aquarist Sam Rutka said that the lobster caught by Joseph Kramer is a healthy male cotton candy lobster, between 6 and 14 years old. It's a genetic mutation that causes some lobsters to have different color schemes. But it's the display of their coloring and markings that distinguish them. This little guy almost looks like he's got the Northern lights sprayed on him. It's a combination of blue, pink, and purple the perfect mix to be in the cotton candy group.  What helps in the rarity of such a lobster is that the bright ones are easily spotted by predators.

Catch a glimpse of this rare lobster at the Seacoast Science Center in the next couple of weeks.