The Strangest Thing Deadliest Catch's Andy Hillstrand Ever Found In A Crab Pot

Throughout their over 18 years on air, the team from Discovery's "Deadliest Catch" has pulled up a multitude of strange and unique items while crab-fishing across the Bering sea. Although the various ships featured within the series are searching primarily for Alaskan king crab, their crab pots occasionally capture lost pieces of garbage floating out in the middle of the sea –- such as the exercise bike that Captain Sig Hansen once found entangled in his crab pot.

The likelihood of finding strange pieces of garbage while fishing has even led some "Deadliest Catch" crew members to prank their fellow fishermen by planting certain items inside crab pots or attaching something wild to their fishing lines. Indeed, one particularly memorable prank from Season 4 saw Captain Jonathan Hillstrand tying an entire pickup trick to the buoy line of another ship, which the crew eventually pulled out of the water in complete disbelief.

Considering all of the strange junk floating around in the sea, it might surprise some fans to learn that cast member Andy Hillstrand believes the strangest thing ever found in his crab pot was actually (surprise, surprise) a crab.

During an interview Dockwalk, Captain Andy Hillstrand was asked what the oddest thing that he'd ever found in a crab pot was — to which Hillstrand gave a pretty surprising answer. "Scale crab," Hillstrand admitted. "It's a really small crab with snake-esque skin."

The Scaled Crab (Placetron wosnessenskii) is a species of king crab that derives its name from the scaly pattern that stretches across its legs and its uniquely shaped carapace (via iNaturalist). On top of that, the scaled crab can also be identified by its unique murky green or reddish coloring, banded legs, and its relatively soft and leathery abdomen — each of which lends themselves quite easily to the "Snake-esque" description used by Hillstrand.

Although this strange-looking crab must have certainly been an exciting surprise for Hillstrand alongside the Alaskan king crab within his pot, it's important to note that the scaled crab is mostly found off the western coast of North America. Although this peculiar species of crab is certainly quite interesting, the fact that Hillstrand found the scaled crab within its established habitat makes it seem like an odd choice for his "strangest find ever" on "Deadliest Catch."