Maine wholesaler acquires rare four-clawed lobster

PORTLAND, Maine – A Portland seafood wholesaler has acquired a lobster that will never see the dinner table despite having double the usual amount of claw meat.

Ready Seafood Co. bought the lobster with four fully formed claws from a Canadian dealer. Three claws are on one arm and one is on the other. Lobsters normally have two claws.

Ready Seafood’s in-house marine biologist Curt Brown says he’s never seen a four-clawed lobster in more than a decade in the business. He says a genetic mutation caused the extra claws.

The lobster arrived at Ready Seafood on Sunday.

The crustacean will be handed over to the state Department of Marine Resources. Brown says he’ll suggest they try to breed it.

Brown says his wife has named the lobster “Clawdette.”