1 in 30 million: Rare orange lobster found at Red Lobster in Colorado

DENVER (KDVR) – An extremely rare orange lobster with a genetic mutation avoided a trip to the dinner table after it was delivered to a Red Lobster in Colorado.

The Downtown Aquarium in Denver said the lobster was accidentally sent to a Red Lobster in Pueblo. Luckily, the shell was much brighter than the other crustaceans it was traveling with.

Kendra Kastendieck, the restaurant's general manager, said lobsters are typically "very dark brown with maybe a few small spots or discoloration points."

"So having one that was bright orange that none of us had ever seen was definitely a bit of a shock," she said.

The lobster came from the coast of Canada, according to the restaurant's food vendor.

"We actually had several guests see him in the tank in our lobby and asked why do we have a cooked lobster in our lobster tank," Kastendieck said.

Turns out, about one in 30 million lobsters have a similar orange tint, according to the aquarium.

"The lobster’s coloration is from a genetic mutation which affects and prevents encoded proteins. The lack of one or several proteins can manifest as different colors, including blue, yellow and orange," the aquarium noted.

Orange lobsters have been found before, but they are few and far between. In a more recent record, one grocery store worker in Massachusetts found an orange lobster while working at a supermarket in 2018.

The orange lobster that was originally set for the Colorado restaurant arrived safely at the aquarium on Wednesday. The little crustacean dubbed "Crush" after the famed Broncos defense luckily not on a dish.