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Blue Lobsters are Real!
Lobsters are supposed to be red right? ... Well, yes
and no.
Most live american lobsters are naturally colored an
olive green or mottled dark greenish brown. In rare cases,
lobsters come in shades of bright blue, white (albino),
yellow, black, and red have been reported from time to
time. Perhaps the most unusual colors are the "half-and-half"
lobsters with a line straight down their backs where the
two colors meet.
The major pigment in a lobster's shell, astaxanthin,
is actually bright red in its free state; but in the lobster's
shell astaxanthin is chemically bound to proteins that
change it to a greenish color. When lobsters are
cooked, heat breaks down these bonds, freeing the astaxanthin
so that it reverts to its normal red color.
So how does a lobster turn bright blue?
A genetic defect has been found that causes a blue lobster
to produce an excessive amount of protein. The protein
wraps around a small, red carotenoid molecule known as
as astaxanthin. The two push together, forming a blue
complex known as crustacyanin which often gives the lobster
shell a bright blue color. About one in a million lobsters
are blue, but when cooked, it turns red like the other
lobsters.
It has been suggested that more than 'one
in a million' lobsters born are blue, but many do not
survive because their bright blue shell brings too much
attention to themselves, making them a prime target for
predators. Scientists also believe that blue lobsters
tend to be more aggressive than their normal colored counterparts.
Since they don’t easily blend in, they have adapted
and changed to be more aggressive to protect themselves.
The blue lobster is truly another gift from Mother Nature
that most people never see. Many professional lobstermen
go through their whole lobstering career without catching
or even seeing a blue lobster. Those that do have the
privilege of catching one, are amazed and excited as it
is seen as a once-in-a-lifetime event and feel a sense
of awe when they experience seeing the strikingly beautiful
blue lobster for the first time. Those that are caught
are not normally eaten, but rather given to aquariums
and educational institutions and kept on display in tanks
for others to admire.
Taxonomy of Homarus americanus:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Crustacea
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Macrura reptantia
Family: Nephrodidae
Genus: Homarus
Species: americanus
• Lobster Scampi
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About the Author:
This article courtesy of Lobster
Delicious at http://www.lobsterdelicious.com/ .
To see photos go to: http://www.lobsterdelicious.com/blue-lobster.html
This article may be freely reprinted as long as the author's
resource box and url links remain intact.
See:
• How
to Boil Lobster
• How
to Eat Lobster
• Red
Lobster Coupons
• Buy
delicious lobsters online at Gortonsfreshseafood
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