A New Quay boat skipper has spoken of his shock at landing an extremely rare bright iridescent blue lobster.

Tim Harrison, boss of Epic Fishing, was aboard the Jessica Ione when he caught the exotic-looking crustacean in ten metres of water around half-a-mile off New Quay on Friday afternoon.

“I was absolutely amazed - I’ve never seen anything of such startling colour,” he told the Cambrian News.

“Most of the lobsters in Cardigan Bay are very dark blue bordering on black.

“My business partner, Christopher Hicks, who has fished Cardigan Bay forever and must have seen thousands of lobsters has only previously come across one of this colour.”

Having been photographed, the lobster was then released back into the bay, but it was only when he reached dry land that Tim discovered just how rare a catch he had made.

“It turns out this particular lobster is genetically quite unique,” he said. “We’re talking one in two million.

“In hindsight I now wish I’d given it rather more attention before putting it back in the water.”