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Aquariums displaying an array of native marine life ranging from the invasive green crab to recreationally prized striped bass greet students of and visitors to the 51Ʒ��’s Marine Science Center. However, no organism within these tanks draws a bigger crowd than the rare blue lobster, which not only brilliantly sports the University’s colors but also represents a rare, one in two million quirk of nature.

UNE’s Marine Science Center now announces that its blue specimen will no longer be the only odd-colored crustacean present, as it has recently taken in a far more rare yellow-orange lobster. According to researchers, the chance of catching one of these bizarre arthropods is predicted to be a one in 10 million occurrence.

Shell color in lobster, much like human skin color, can vary greatly among individuals and is determined by two things, diet and genetics.  The normal mottled dark brown color of American lobsters is a product of red, yellow and blue pigments that are bound together by protein. Orange lobsters have their unusual colorization due to the lack of blue pigment.  As such, some other unusual lobster colors that have been reported include white, which is the most rare at an estimated one in 100 million, and calico (mottled black and orange), which comes in second place with an approximate one in 30 million occurrence.

This orange lobster was originally destined to be someone’s dinner, but members of the Saco Hannaford’s Seafood Department caught a glimpse of it within their morning seafood shipment.  Believing this unique lobster was worth more than its market value of $7.99 per pound, Assistant Store Manager Ryan Poisson contacted UNE’s Marine Science Center and donated the crustacean for display. The lobster will be housed in its own seawater tray, where students and visitors can view this rare creature and perhaps be inspired to be among the next generation of “ocean leaders.”