1-in-100 million 'cotton candy' lobster caught off New Hampshire alive and well at aquarium

A 1-in-100-million "cotton-candy" lobster that exhibited vibrant pink, purple and blue hues was caught by a lobsterman off the coast of New Hampshire in late July.

Joseph Krame, the 25-year-old who caught the specimen, donated his rare catch to the Seacoast Science Centre in Rye, New Hampshire where the lobster, which is said to be "Healthy and eating well," can now be seen on public display, Karen Provazza, a staff member of the Seacoast Science Center, told Live Science in an email.

Lobsters are typically a mottled brown color, which helps camouflage them on the ocean floor. However, lobsters are also found in a variety of colors at lower frequencies including orange, blue, and even two-toned. The reason for this variation is due to genetic mutations that change the chemistry of a pigment they ingest.

All lobsters take in a red pigment, called astaxanthin, that comes from the plants and smaller crustaceans they eat. It's this pigment that gives lobsters their striking red coloration after cooking, and also their natural mottled brown appearance.

The lobster exterior is made up of layers; first the skin, followed by two layers of shell. After ingestion, the red pigment is stored in the skin layer. The pigment then moves into the lower shell, which appears blue, due to interactions with proteins present in the shell that twists the pigment. Finally, when the pigment moves into the upper shell the pigment interacts with different proteins to create a yellow hue.

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So when we look at a lobster, we are in fact looking through each of these layers - a yellow, blue and red layer — and this gives the lobster a mottled brown appearance. Cooking the lobster breaks down these proteins, returning astaxanthin to its distinctive red color.