12 Elusively Blue Animals: The Rarest Creatures of All
Blue Lobster
blue lobster
Enoc Dooley / EyeEm / Getty Images
Lobsters are almost always green or brown, but on extremely rare occasions—around one in two million—a blue one will appear. This coloration is caused by a genetic mutation that causes the lobster to produce an excessive amount of a particular protein that gives it that color.
Lobsters eat plant material to get astaxanthin, an antioxidant that helps them cope with stress. (It's the same compound that gives salmon its orangey-pink color.) As Dr. Michael Tlusty explains at the New England Aquarium, "When the lobsters eat the astaxanthin, the red pigment goes it into the skin, and that's where it shows up as being red. Then, the pigment gets moved up into the shell. And when it stores it in the shell, proteins grab the pigments and twist it around, and it actually turns to a blue color. And then later on, they get twisted again, and they turn yellow."1
When you look at a lobster, you're seeing those stacked layers of pigment—yellow, red, blue—all muddling together to create a brown color. But if a lobster isn't getting enough astaxanthin, thanks to its genetic mutation, then there's not a visible red layer—which means you'll see more of the blue, rather than the "muddy" blend of pigments.
blue lobster
Enoc Dooley / EyeEm / Getty Images
Lobsters are almost always green or brown, but on extremely rare occasions—around one in two million—a blue one will appear. This coloration is caused by a genetic mutation that causes the lobster to produce an excessive amount of a particular protein that gives it that color.
Lobsters eat plant material to get astaxanthin, an antioxidant that helps them cope with stress. (It's the same compound that gives salmon its orangey-pink color.) As Dr. Michael Tlusty explains at the New England Aquarium, "When the lobsters eat the astaxanthin, the red pigment goes it into the skin, and that's where it shows up as being red. Then, the pigment gets moved up into the shell. And when it stores it in the shell, proteins grab the pigments and twist it around, and it actually turns to a blue color. And then later on, they get twisted again, and they turn yellow."1
When you look at a lobster, you're seeing those stacked layers of pigment—yellow, red, blue—all muddling together to create a brown color. But if a lobster isn't getting enough astaxanthin, thanks to its genetic mutation, then there's not a visible red layer—which means you'll see more of the blue, rather than the "muddy" blend of pigments.
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30 August 2023
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