A lobster with an incredibly rare genetic mutation that affects 1 in 30 million of the species was “accidentally delivered” to a Red Lobster in Colorado, according to a local aquarium.
The lobster, which has an orange-colored shell, was sent to a Red Lobster in Pueblo, around 110 miles south of the state’s capital, the Downtown Aquarium in Denver told KDVR.
To break the tension now, the lobster did not make its way onto a customer’s surf and turf platter, as the crustacean’s brightly colored shell made it easy to identify.
“[Regular lobsters] are 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,” Kendra Kastendieck, the general manager of the Pueblo Red Lobster, told KDVR.
Kastendieck shared that the color of the lobster’s shell led several of the restaurant-goers to ask why there was already a pre-cooked lobster in the live tank.
The lobster was so shocking to staff at the restaurant that they even posed for photos with it, sharing them on social media.
According to the restaurant’s food vendor, the orange lobster was caught off the coast of Canada. The aquarium shared that the genetic mutation affects around 1 in every 30 million lobsters.
“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 said.
KDVR shared that the lobster, which has been named “Crush,” arrived at the aquarium on Wednesday.