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Rare blue lobster found off Cornwall coast

A rare blue lobster has been landed off the south Cornish coast.

Fisherman Chris Puckey found the hen in one of his pots off Polperro on Sunday.

The lobsters are electric blue due to a genetic abnormality that causes them to overproduce a certain protein.

An expert from Oxford University’s zoology department said the chance of catching a blue lobster was estimated at about one-in-two-million.

Mr Puckey and Polperro fishmonger Jacqueline Spencer decided to give the lobster to a local aquarium so it could be protected.

Ms Spencer said: “We were concerned it might get caught again in another pot or even be eaten by another lobster.”

She said they hoped the crustacean could “live out its life peacefully and be protected from predators” at the aquarium.

The shell, or top section of the lobster measured over 87mm, meaning Mr Puckey was not required to return it to the sea.

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