Claudia the 3-clawed lobster

Posted on 23rd July 2010 | in Community

Claudia the 3-clawed lobster

Claudia the 3-clawed lobster

An amazing three clawed lobster has been found by Amble fisherman Doug Handyside who caught it in one of his pots. Out fishing in early May, Doug hauled up his lobster pots and realised he’d landed a monster catch.

Local Marine Officer Aaron Mair told The Ambler: “Doug came over to the office. We had seen an article in The Fishing News last week about a crab down in Suffolk which had a claw growing out of its claw. Doug said to me ‘I’ve beat that! I’ve got a lobster with a claw growing out of its claw!’ We wondered if Blue Reef Aquarium at Tynemouth might be interested, so I rang them and they said they were very interested.”

Doug Handyside said, “We were a bit surprised when we saw it. The funny thing is we’d just been talking about the crab in the Fishing News.”

Alan Brown, fishing with Doug, said he’d never seen such a thing in 40 years of fishing.

After a night sheltering under a damp tea towel the female lobster was seemingly very pleased to see Blue Reef’s marine experts as they turned up with a refrigerated sea water tank.

“She looked very happy” laughed Aaron, “She was delighted when she got in.”

And now a special display tank is being designed for the 40cm lobster, now named Claudia.

Blue Reef Aquarium’s Curator Chris Horn said: “It’s incredibly unusual to find lobsters with extra claws, I’ve certainly never seen one before. The most probable explanation is that it must have been caused by some kind of mutation. Lobsters, like other crustaceans, are capable of re-growing limbs and claws if they lose or damage them in a fight.

“It may be that Claudia’s ability to re-generate lost limbs has got confused and, rather than replacing a missing set of claws, she’s actually ended up growing an extra pair instead. It’s extremely lucky that the fisherman spotted just how unusual she was and brought her in to us – otherwise I suppose she would have been heading for the pot,” added Chris.

Blue Reef Aquarium’s lobster facts

All lobsters are born with a cutting and a crushing claw. There is a 50:50 chance of developing a right- or left-crusher depending upon which claw is used more frequently.

The lobsters prey consists of crabs, which are grabbed by the legs using the cutter claw while the crusher claw breaks open the carapace.

Lobsters are among the planet’s oldest inhabitants with fossil remains found dating back more than 100 million years. They are also extremely long-lived with some individuals reaching ages in excess of 60 years.

A lobster’s claws grow much faster than the rest of its body. In one giant specimen the claws were twice the weight of the rest of the animal.

www.bluereefaquarium.co.uk/tynemouth.htm

This article first appeared on our website in May

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