The ‘one in 30 million’ delivery from Scotland to Bolton Market
He was named Pumpkin – and is now in quarantine
A colourful and extremely rare crustacean has been saved from the cooking pot after amazing shoppers and staff at a market fish stall.
Lobsters usually sport dark camouflage colours like brown or green. Blue-coloured lobsters are rare, but the chances of catching one with orange colouring are said to be even greater – at odds of around one in 30 million.
That’s exactly what happened to Jessica Kay, 34, and her husband Paul Murphy, 51, who run Wet & Wild Seafood and Meat at Bolton Market.
Jessica told how she took delivery of 72kg of lobster early on Saturday morning (August 30) and the rare male stood out immediately. The haul was caught off Oban in Scotland.
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Jessica said: “We get the majority of our fish straight off local fishermen or national fishermen. We buy direct from the boats. We try to keep everything sustainable and caught in Britain.
“Seventy per cent of the fish that we eat in Britain is imported, and 70 per cent of the fish caught in British waters is exported. I try to keep everything local without it being exported then imported back to use.
The orange lobster(Image: UGC/MEN)
“We try to keep everything nice and fresh. Those lobsters were caught at 11pm at night. They got them back in and loaded and they set off down to me at 2am in the morning. They were with me by 6am.
“And there he was – the orange one. I know of their rarity. To the right buyer, this lobster could have sold for up to £1,000, but we chose to save him.”
Jessica said she contacted a close friend from Bolton Museum, Aquarium and Archive, which is based in Bolton town centre. “I rang him and asked for some information on how rare this lobster is,” she added.
Jessica on the stall with a normal lobster(Image: PA Real Life)
“He said he believed it was one in 30 million, or thereabouts. He said it was worth, if I was willing, saving, but he didn’t have any tanks available.
“He put it out on a national aquarium and zoo forum, and loads of places were messaging us. We had places from Scarborough, Scotland and Devon, and Manchester Sea Life got in touch and said they would take him.”
Named Pumpkin by Sea Life staff, because of his colouring and Halloween nearing, he was collected from the market and taken to the attraction, which is near the Trafford Centre.
Jessica said: “He’s fine and is doing really well. He is in his own isolation tank now and has started treatment to make sure that he is nice and clean and not carrying any parasites.
Pumpkin is now at Sea Life(Image: UGC/MEN)
“The customers loved it, especially with the school holidays. We always get a good interest on the stall, but with the orange one people were really taking notice. We sell a lot of lobster and a lot of crab – but this is the first orange lobster we have seen.”
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Jessica said she was told the lobster was lucky to have survived in the wild in the first place, as its colouring would have made it stand out to predators.
She said: “He’ll end up in a tank with a nice interesting background, but at the minute he’s in quarantine. It’s the best place for him. My aquarium friend said he was surprised he got that big because he wasn’t camouflaged against anything, making him extremely vulnerable.”
It’s understood the crustacean’s novel colour is down to a genetic abnormality or a mutation. Protein content and volume – and pigment – is said to affect a lobster’s colouring in the wild. They turn red when cooked as heat releases pigment because protein in their shell breaks down.