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A Maine lobsterman said he was shocked when he netted a rare purple lobster last week.
Keith Potter netted the purple lobster on Tuesday off the coast of Winter Harbor.
Marine biologists at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center said purple lobsters are extremely rare, but possible.
Professor Robert Steneck said lobster shell pigments are complicated and have colors including blue, red, yellow and more.
Blue lobsters show up frequently, sometimes red, sometimes yellow and even white. A blue and red variation that we call purple is not impossible," Steneck said in an email.
It's unclear what the odds of catching a purple lobster are.
"Pigment mutations are estimated to be around one in a million but I think those are just guesses," Steneck said.
Steneck said with Maine lobstermen seeing millions of lobsters, finding these "rare" lobsters is not as unusual as most people would think.
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Extremely rare purple lobster caught by lobsterman
A recent haul by a lobsterman brought in a rare crustacean that only a Prince fan could love.
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Extremely rare purple lobster caught by lobsterman
A recent haul by a lobsterman brought in a rare crustacean that only a Prince fan could love.
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