Genetic Marvel: Three-Clawed Crab Found On Eastern Shore
SOMERSET COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- The haul for a couple in Somerset County yielded an unusual specimen: a crab with a third set of pincers.
Our media partner The Baltimore Sun reports John and Debbie Wollens caught a bushel of crabs, including the three-clawed crustacean, at the end of their pier Monday.
Eric Schott, a University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science associate research professor, told The Sun it's a rare mutation but he has seen pictures of lobsters and other crabs with extra claws.
"That's interesting," Schott told The Sun. "That's certainly — it happens. We don't know how it happens, but we can guess."
The Wollens told The Sun they steamed the crab but planned to leave it outside for ants to devour it.
Once the shell has been emptied out, they'll bring it inside and glue it to a piece of driftwood.
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