Rare, 1-in-30 million orange lobster accidentally sent to Colorado Red Lobster

An orange-colored lobster with an incredibly rare genetic mutation was nearly boiled and served up with some butter after it was “accidentally delivered” to a Colorado Red Lobster, according to a local aquarium.

The Downtown Aquarium in Denver said the unique crustacean was shipped to the restaurant in Pueblo — about 110 miles south of the state capital, according to KDVR. 

Fortunately, the lobster’s brightly colored shell made it easier to identify before it wound up on a seafood platter at the restaurant.

“[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 the outlet.

Several guests at the restaurant even asked why there was already a pre-cooked lobster in the live lobby tank due to its strange coloring, she said.

The orange lobster was caught off the coast of Canada, according to the restaurant’s food vendor.

This genetic mutation only occurs in about one in every 30 million lobsters, 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 said.

The lobster arrived at the aquarium on Wednesday, KDVR reported. It’s been named “Crush” after the Denver Broncos famed “Orange Crush” defense from the later 1970s and 1980s.

In 2018, another orange lobster was discovered at a Massachusetts supermarket. That lobster was also donated to a local aquarium.