On Christmas Eve, the Shaw Institute, located in Blue Hill, celebrated the arrival of a rare aquatic wonder: a split lobster named Arnold Clawmer.
Arnold, the first resident of the institute’s new touch tank, has a fascinating story.
His journey began at a Shop and Save in Milbridge, Maine, where a sympathetic customer noticed the unique lobster and decided to donate it to a marine learning center.
Before finding his forever home in Blue Hill, Arnold spent time acclimating to the tank life at the Bar Harbor Oceanarium.
Arnold’s striking split-color mutation, which occurs in only 1 in 50 million lobsters, is the result of the fusion of two fertilized eggs during development.
Although rare, split colored lobsters are not the most unusual pigmentation.
Albino and cotton candy lobsters are much rarer, occurring at just 1 in 100 million, while orange and yellow lobsters are 1 in 30 million, red lobsters are 1 in 10 million and blue lobsters are 1 in 2 million, according to Seacoast Science Center.
Last year, another unique lobster made headlines: a gynandromorphic, or hermaphroditic, lobster, discovered by Maine lobsterman Jacob Knowles.
On Christmas Eve, the Shaw Institute, located in Blue Hill, celebrated the arrival of a rare aquatic wonder: a split lobster named Arnold Clawmer.
Arnold was discovered at the Shop and Save in Milbridge, Maine, where a sympathetic customer noticed the unique lobster and decided to donate it to a marine learning center
The lobster’s body, named Bowie after David Bowie’s iconic gender-defying style, is split down the middle, with one side rendered in vibrant blue and the other in brown-orange, with each side showing distinct male and female anatomy shows.
Bowie’s condition, known as gynandromorphy, results from a genetic abnormality during early embryonic development that causes male and female tissues to coexist.
This phenomenon, which is distinct from intersexuality, creates a mosaic of male and female traits, which is clearly visible in Bowie’s swimmerets: small swimming legs near the tail.
Although hermaphroditism is common in some crustaceans, lobsters generally have different male and female anatomies.
However, gynandromorphy has been observed in fossilized crustaceans that are 70 million years old.
Although statistics often claim that split colored lobsters like Bowie occur in 1 in 50 million, experts including the Lobster Institute warn that these figures may need to be updated.
According to the institute’s former director, split lobsters, although rare, are spotted annually.
Bowie was almost destined for the dinner table, because Maine law allows lobstermen to keep and sell legal-sized lobsters.
Cancer man Jacob Knowles holds up the gynandromorphic lobster Bowie that his friend found in one of his lobster traps
Bowie the lobster is split almost perfectly down the middle, with male reproductive parts on the blue side and female on the other. It is not clear whether Bowie can reproduce with himself
Fortunately, Knowles chose to preserve this extraordinary creature and moved Bowie to the Bar Harbor Oceanarium for safekeeping after a storm compromised its safety.
Like Arnold Clawmer, Bowie is now enjoying a second chance at life and fascinates visitors and water sports enthusiasts alike with his rarity.