Story perspectives

Rare Half-Red, Half-Brown Lobster Captured, Heading to Woods Hole

4/28/2026

Summary

Story summary

Scientists estimate a perfect half-red, half-brown lobster occurs about once in 50 million.
A split-colored lobster caught off Cape Cod on April 16 by Wellfleet Shellfish Company resides at NOAA’s Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, where biologist Julia Studley says its pattern likely formed when two fertilized eggs merged.
The three-plus-pound animal was donated to the Woods Hole Science Aquarium, which will display it after the aquarium reopens in 2027.

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Story summary

Scientists estimate a perfect half-red, half-brown lobster occurs about once in 50 million.
A split-colored lobster caught off Cape Cod on April 16 by Wellfleet Shellfish Company resides at NOAA’s Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, where biologist Julia Studley says its pattern likely formed when two fertilized eggs merged.
The three-plus-pound animal was donated to the Woods Hole Science Aquarium, which will display it after the aquarium reopens in 2027.