Bowie: half blue, half brown, half male, half female lobster.

Fishermen say that find the blue lobster at sea it is a sign of good luck. They make this statement because it has been calculated that there is a possibility of doing so. 1 in 2 million. This does not mean that this is the actual proportion in nature, but it does mean that it is calculated based on catches. Whatever the exact figure, it is clear that finding a blue lobster is a very peculiar matter. But even more so if it half blue, half brown lobster. And even more if it is also half man, half woman. It may seem impossible, but it is not. This is the case Bowiea lobster that was recently caught in the North Atlantic and is already becoming famous on TikTok.

Bowie was caught in the net of a fisherman, a friend of a famous TikToker and Instagrammer named Jacob Knowles, so his path to fame was very easy. In fact, his followers named him after David Bowie, the famous singer who supposedly had one eye of each color. Allegedly because what actually happened to him was that due to a blow to his eye muscles that constrict the pupil, so that one was much smaller than the other, giving the appearance of being a different color. But this is not what interests us now.

The most famous in this case is Bowie, a half blue, half brown, half male, half female lobster. This is the first discovery of its kind, but in fact the explanation for what is happening to it can be explained by three phenomena: gynandromorphismHe chimerism And rare mutation Why are there so few blue lobsters?

What is gynandromorphism?

Gynandromorphism is a phenomenon in which an organism can have both male and female characteristics. Found mainly in insectsbut cases have been reported in birds and crustaceanslike this half blue, half brown lobster.

It is half male and half female due to a malfunction in cell division that occurs during embryonic development.

As we already know, biological sex is usually designated conformation of sex chromosomes. They may be called differently in each species, but let’s look at the X and Y chromosomes, as they are called in humans and many other species.

Males have an XY conformation, while females have an XX conformation. When a cell divides, it must first duplicate its chromosomes, including its sex chromosomes. So if you had XY chromosomes, you will have XXYY. When this cell with duplicated chromosomes divides, it produces two XY cells. However, in some cases, a malfunction in embryonic development may occur, in which division does not occur exactly in half. That is, instead of two XY cells, we will have one X and another XYY. For visible purposes this is translated into male and female symbols. Therefore, when an individual completes embryonic development and becomes an adult, it may be half man, half womanbiologically speaking.

Half blue, half brown lobster: why?

Typically, lobsters have Brown color. This is because both its meat and shell take on the color of a pigment called astaxanthin. It is a very curious pigment because its color depends on its conformation.

It is free in crustacean meat, which is why it appears red. However, in the shell it interacts with proteins that reduce it, giving it different shades. When folded for the first time it becomes colored blue. However, in the outermost layer of the shell it folds in half, becoming brightly colored. yellow. mixture of red, blue and yellow This is what gives lobsters their characteristic brown color.

However, in some cases, a mutation may occur in which the fold predominates and gives it a blue color. This is exactly what is happening with Bowie, although this is probably also a case of chimerism. This occurs when two zygotes (two eggs fertilized by two sperm) fuse. mixing your genetic abilities. The result is one person with cells belonging to two different genomes. This may be the case with the half blue, half brown lobster. It contains cells from one mutated and one non-mutated person.

All this makes Bowie a special animal. Everything strange comes together in him. Will there be more like him at sea? Maybe. But to be honest, I hope no one ever catches them. Much better for them.