Rare lobster looks half cooked

BAR HARBOR, Maine, July 17 (UPI) -- The Mount Desert Oceanarium in Bar Harbor, Maine, has acquired a lobster that looks like it was partially boiled, but the crustacean isn't cooked, it's rare.

The lobster, which is half bright orange-red, has a genetic mutation estimated to occur in one in 50 million to 100 million lobsters, the Bangor (Maine) Daily News reported Monday.

"I didn't know what to think," said lobsterman Alan Robinson, who caught the lobster last week. "I thought somebody was playing a joke on me."

"I've caught a blue one before. But they claim this is rarer than the blue ones."

Robinson donated the lobster to the Oceanarium, which has been home to three two-toned lobsters since its opening 35 years ago.

Oceanarium worker Bette Spurling said lobster shells typically are combinations of red, blue, and yellow that appear greenish-brown. She said the color of the rare lobster was due to it having no blue coloring on half of its shell.