# Freaky-ass mutant lobster caught in Maine. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freaky-ass-mutant-lobster-caught-in-maine/369182 "2006-08-18T02:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freaky-ass-mutant-lobster-caught-in-maine/369182/21 "2006-08-19T23:47:40Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] But the kid grew up to have one of the most successful albums of all time and was seen as a superstar until an incident at his ranch, even though he was cleared of all charges, a dark cloud of suspicion hung over him and he fled the US as soon as the trial was over. [/QUOTE] \ ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freaky-ass-mutant-lobster-caught-in-maine/369182/22 "2006-08-20T04:04:47Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] Yes. There was a special on Discovery Health that showed a child who was much darker on one half of the body than the other. (I believe the poor tyke was also intersexed too.) [/QUOTE] If that’s the same one who’s picture appeared in the _New England Journal of Medicine_ shortly after birth, yes, that’s an intersexed child. A true hermaphrodite in fact, very rare. The kid is actually a fusion of two embryos, one male and one female and thus a chimera as well as everything else. Haven’t seen the Discovery special myself, though now I’ll be looking for it to repeat. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freaky-ass-mutant-lobster-caught-in-maine/369182/23 "2006-08-20T19:58:39Z")
Isn’t it a bit “interesting” that the color differentiation is a precise line down the center of the lobster? One would think that if it were a natural occurance that it would be more muted where the colors are different. That is, a more gradual line of demarkation, instead of a stark exact line exactly in the middle. I’m a bit skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freaky-ass-mutant-lobster-caught-in-maine/369182/24 "2006-08-20T20:01:11Z")
[QUOTE=CanvasShoes] Isn’t it a bit “interesting” that the color differentiation is a precise line down the center of the lobster? One would think that if it were a natural occurance that it would be more muted where the colors are different. That is, a more gradual line of demarkation, instead of a stark exact line exactly in the middle. I’m a bit skeptical. [/QUOTE] Piffle. Bilateral symmetry explains that away nicely. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freaky-ass-mutant-lobster-caught-in-maine/369182/25 "2006-08-20T20:35:13Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Piffle. Bilateral symmetry explains that away nicely. [/QUOTE] Which is??.. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freaky-ass-mutant-lobster-caught-in-maine/369182/26 "2006-08-20T21:00:10Z")
[QUOTE=CanvasShoes] Which is??.. [/QUOTE] [Bilateral symmetry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symmetry_(biology)#Bilateral_symmetry) – illustrated with a lobster, as it happens. Here’s a datum to think about: Every tortoiseshell or calico cat I’ve owned, and many of the others I’ve observed over the years, showed a more or less clear demarcation of the colors along at least part of their topline. For example, check out [this photo](http://community.webshots.com/photo/109844880/1109848750000735275mrKWbZ). ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freaky-ass-mutant-lobster-caught-in-maine/369182/27 "2006-08-20T21:01:40Z")
Ah, for “topline” substitute “plane of demarcation.” :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freaky-ass-mutant-lobster-caught-in-maine/369182.md?page=1)