Lobsters are supposed to be red, right? Well, yes and no. Most live American lobsters have naturally colored an olive green or mottled dark greenish-brown. In rare cases, lobsters come in shades of bright blue, white (albino), yellow, black, and red have been reported from time to time. Perhaps the most unusual colors are the "half-and-half" lobsters with a line straight down their backs where the two colors meet.
The primary pigment in a lobster's shell, astaxanthin, is bright red in its free state; but in the lobster's shell, astaxanthin is chemically bound to proteins that change it to a greenish color. When lobsters are cooked, heat breaks down these bonds, freeing the astaxanthin so that it reverts to its typical red color.
So how does a lobster turn bright blue?
A genetic defect has been found that causes a blue lobster to produce an excessive amount of protein. The protein wraps around a small, red carotenoid molecule known as astaxanthin. The two push together, forming a blue complex known as crustacyanin, giving the lobster shell a bright blue color. About one in a million lobsters are blue, but it turns red like the other lobsters when cooked.
It has been suggested that more than 'one in a million lobsters born are blue, but many do not survive because their bright blue shell brings too much attention to themselves, making them a prime target for predators. Scientists also believe that blue lobsters tend to be more aggressive than their regular colored counterparts. Since they don't easily blend in, they have adapted and changed to be more aggressive to protect themselves.
The blue lobster is truly another gift from Mother Nature that most people never see. Many professional lobstermen go through their whole lobstering career without catching or even seeing a blue lobster. Those that do have the privilege of witnessing one are amazed and excited as it is seen as a once-in-a-lifetime event and feel a sense of awe when they experience seeing the excellent blue lobster for the first time. Those caught are generally not eaten but rather given to aquariums and educational institutions and kept on display in tanks for others to admire.
Taxonomy of Homarus americanus:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Crustacea
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Macrura reptantia
Family: Nephrodidae
Genus: Homarus
Species: americanus
Also, See.
- How to Grill a Lobster Tails on The BBQ
- How To Remove Lobster From The Shell
- Tips On How To Eat A Lobster
