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Rare Blue Lobster Now Calls National Aquarium In Baltimore Home

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—There is lots of excitement at the National Aquarium in Baltimore as a rare lobster came home to Maryland on Tuesday.

Ron Matz reports on how a routine day on the water turned into something special.

It was June 2012 when the crew of the Pot Luck caught Toby off the coast of Maryland near Ocean City.

That's right, a rare blue lobster. Toby was transported to a fish company and then to the National Aquarium in Washington.

But now there's excitement at the National Aquarium in Baltimore--Toby's new home.

"Toby is an American lobster who was caught off the coast of Ocean City by the fishing vessel Pot Luck," said Brian Nelson, assistant curator of fishes at the National Aquarium. "They donated Toby to the D.C. aquarium. We had Toby on exhibit for about a year there until D.C. closed and then Toby was transferred to the Animal Care Center for a checkup and quarantine, and now he's moving on to exhibit here in Baltimore."

His blue hue is a one in two million occurrence.

"Toby's the blue morph of the American lobster," Nelson said. "There are about a one in two million genetic mutations. He's got an elevated level of an enzyme, which reacts with the red pigments of his shell and makes it more blue."

It's believed Toby is about 6 to 8 years old. His new home is at the Atlantic Shelf Gallery.

"It's been a long time since we've had an American lobster in the shelf exhibit. It will be nice to have one again," Nelson said.

The two-pound celebrity is now calling Charm City home.

Toby is one of 1,700 animals that were moved to Baltimore when the National Aquarium in Washington closed last year.

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