Luckily, these calico lobsters were donated to research aquariums. Instead, calico lobsters have become famous for being spared from the dinner plate after being noticed by restaurant staff or seafood market employees. Surprisingly, calico lobsters are necessarily noticed by lobstermen (probably because of their darker color) when they’re captured. According to the University of Maine’s Lobster Institute, finding a calico lobster is a 1 in 30 million chance. Photo source: NPR via Tony LaCasse of New England AquariumĬalico lobsters, which have a mottled black and orange shell, are some of the most unique lobsters out there. Most Recently Found In: Caught in Maine, but discovered at Maryland seafood market in 2018 Notable Specimens: Eve, Friendly Kreuger, and Calvin The yellow lobster donated to the New England Aquarium joined a multicolored lobster exhibit that contains unusually colored lobsters including blue, orange, split-colored, and more. Similar to orange lobsters, yellow lobsters lack the proper proteins to produce normal coloration. The restaurant decided not to cook the yellow lobster, named her Ruby, and put her on display in her own tank. The other yellow lobster was caught in Nova Scotia and made it all the way to a Manhattan restaurant before anyone noticed. One of the lobsters was caught in Massachusetts by lobsterman Bill Porter and donated to the New England Aquarium.

While yellow lobsters only appear once in every thirty million, two yellow lobsters were found in 2017. Photo source: Food & Wine via Jack Milton of the Portland Press Herald Most Recently Found In: Massachusetts in 2017 Nova Scotia in 2017 Notable Specimens: Pale yellow lobster donated to New England Aquarium and Ruby

Calico lobster