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Seaman in Hokkaido lands bright lavender crab

8 Comments

On Jan 18, a shipment of crabs from Russia arrived at a port in Japan, some of which were bought up by wholesaler Marusan Mikami Shoten. After opening up their haul of red king crabs (an expensive favorite of Japanese seafood lovers), workers were surprised to see one of the large arthropods was shaded a rich lavender color all over.

Marusan Mikami President Kenetsu Mikami remarked about the discovery, “I’ve been dealing with crabs for 25 years, but this is the first time to see that color. It could be a good omen.”

The staff at Marusan Mikami decided to keep the lavender-colored crab alive and put it on display rather than sell or eat it. It has a leg span of about one meter and weighs in at 3.5 kgs.

Experts at a Hokkaido research organization suggest the cause of the coloration was “the effect of its diet or possibly a mutation causing a lack of pigment.”

Source: Hokkaido Shimbun

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8 Comments
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I always thought that "lavender" was a light purplish/violet color.Crustaceans color are made up of a combination of red and blue pigmentation. When heat is applied, the blue color is destroyed leaving only the red, This is why crabs, shrimp, lobsters, crayfish all turn red when cooked. Every now and then a Blue Lobster is caught in the US North East. It is probably the result of the diet. You can feed crabs, crayfish in a fish tank foods that only supply the blue pigment and they will eventually become blue specimens. I believe fish like herring and mackerel will produce this color change.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

A "mutation" "should be a good omen"!?! http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/topic/516629.html

0 ( +0 / -0 )

At least not eating it was the safe decision.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@CraigHicks - definitely, it probably glows in the dark.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Contaminated by Fukushima radiated dirty water discharged....maybe! Who knows

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Hey, actually, we haven't heard anything here about Fukushima for days!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

I could see these sorts of mutations becoming a trend for restaurants or Aquariums to keep in display.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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