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Orange Lobster Just 1 in 30 Million

July 08, 2009 - RAYMOND -- At first glance, it looks like a boiled lobster somehow made it off a dinner plate and back into the tank.

But that is simply an orange lobster at Barney's Seafood in Raymond, and though the pumpkin-like pigmentation is thought to be rare, the odd colored crustacean is one of at least four that have popped in Maine in recent weeks.

A wholesaler gave the lobster to Randy Curit, owner of Barney's Seafood, about a month ago, and it has been a hit ever since, Curit said.

"I've had a lot of people stop by just to see the lobster," said Curit. "Kids love it. They'll say, no, that's cooked, you're joking."

But if a current trend keeps up, Curit might have to find a new oddity to draw in customers. Amy Roderiques, director of the Maine State Aquarium in West Boothbay Harbor, said she has heard of at least four other orange lobsters now living in tanks across Maine, including one at the Hannaford's supermarket in Westbrook and two at markets in Portland's Old Port.

"It's orange lobster season," said Roderiques, who said it is estimated that just 1 in 30 million lobsters are all orange, though that is just a guess.

"Those numbers are iffy. We don't know the actual population of lobsters. The size of the catch varies from year to year," she said.

Lobster shells contain three pigments representing each of the primary colors, Roderiques said. Blue lobsters are said to number around 1 per 1 million caught, she said, while spotted lobsters are found in around 1 in 30 million. The aquarium even has a half orange/half blue lobster, with a clear distinction down the middle of its back.

"It just depends on how the pigments are distributed," said Roderiques. The aquarium, she said, has a whole assortment of off-colored lobsters, usually gifts from fisherman and market owners.

The red pigment in the lobster shell is the only one of the three colors that doesn't dissipate in boiling water, which gives the lobster its distinctive color when cooked, she said.

Regardless of the color of the lobster, the insides remain the same.

"They taste the same, they act the same," said Roderiques. "The only difference is they are thought to be genetically weaker, so if they get sick they might not recover."

While it seems orange lobsters are popping up more and more, Roderiques said it may just be that the fisherman pulling them out of the ocean are now bringing them to shore rather than throwing them back.

"My guess is that people are just speaking up more," she said.

Curit plans to keep his orange lobster for the summer, then turn it over to either the Maine or Boston Aquarium.

"I've had three or four people try to buy him," said Curit. "But something like that, I don't think you mess with.

"It's sort of like hunting and seeing an albino deer. I don't think you should shoot it."

By Ben Bragdon
Assistant Editor - Lakes Region Weekly
June 28, 2009


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Regions: Sebago


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