Spiny Lobsters with Rare White, Blue Shells Exhibited Alive at Museum in Chiba Pref.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:37 JST, September 30, 2025

CHIBA — Two Ise-ebi spiny lobsters with unusual shell pigmentation — one white and one blue — have been caught by fishermen and brought to Ohara fishing port in Isumi, Chiba Prefecture, in recent weeks.

The lobsters are being exhibited at the Coastal Branch of Natural History Museum and Institute, Chiba, in nearby Katsuura until early October.

According to the museum branch, the white lobster is about 15 centimeters long and was brought to the port on Aug. 29, and the 20-centimeter-long blue lobster arrived at the port on Sept. 9.

Junji Okuno, a senior researcher at the museum, was surprised by their colors.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Ise-ebi either in such a light color or in blue,” Okuno, 56, said.

He said that the whitish lobster, due to its black eyes, is not an albino. The cause of either lobsters’ coloring is unclear.