Different Colored Lobsters

The vast majority of lobsters are a greenish-brown color, but some do take on different hues. While some have specific colors can never change, others have parts that can change colors depending on diet, genetics or the lobster's environment. Some lobsters even can change color to blend into their surroundings as a defense mechanism.

  1. Diet

    • A regular lobster can take on a blue hue if it eats a lot of squid. The ink from the squid is the cause of the color change. Very pale blue lobsters are produced from a diet of phytoplankton. Lobsters only tend to eat phytoplankton when other types of prey cannot be found. Different plants can cause some lobsters to take on shades of white, red, yellow and black. In a group of 1 million lobsters, one may be one of these exotic colors while the rest are green brown. There are even more rare deep blue lobsters, but those are the result of genetic issues, not diet. The New England Aquarium also says a lobster will turn white if does not get a certain pigment, astaxanthin, in its diet.

    Patterns

    • Most lobsters are one color, but some are bi-colored or even tricolored with a calico pattern. These patterns are due to genetic abnormalities and are extremely rare. The probability of finding these patterned lobsters are one in a million. This bi-color develops because the two sides of the lobster develop differently.

    Cooking

    • All lobsters appear red once they have been cooked. This is due to the color molecule, astaxanthin, that binds to the protein in lobster shells. While this color compound can change in live lobsters, the cooking process breaks the chemical down into its free form color, which is always a bright orange-red.

    Environment

    • The color shade of the shell can change depending on the colors in the environment around the lobster. In sandy situations, the lobster shell will be light. In rocks or darker soils, the lobster will have a darker shell. Lobsters that blend into the surroundings have an advantage over lobsters that do not, as it is harder to distinguish the lobster from its surroundings. That increases that lobster's chance to survive a predator's attack.