Rare blue lobster at Red Lobster gets new home at Ohio zoo

July 27 (UPI) -- A rare blue lobster delivered to a Red Lobster restaurant in Ohio was spared from gracing a patron's dinner plate when employees found it a new home at a zoo.

The Akron Zoo said staff at the Red Lobster in Cuyahoga Falls spotted the blue crustacean in a delivery and recognized it as a rare specimen.

The eatery contacted the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which in turn contacted the zoo about giving a new home to the lobster, which was dubbed "Clawde" after Red Lobster's mascot.

A zoo employee traveled to the eatery and brought Clawde to his new home.

"Clawde is acclimating to his new home here at the Akron Zoo, in a special tank that has been dubbed 'Clawde's Man Cave' by his care team," the zoo said.

The zoo said Clawde's color is caused by a genetic abnormality believed to affect about one in every 2 million lobsters.

The zoo's announcement comes just days after employees at a Stop & Shop store in Toms River, N.J., disclosed one of the lobsters in a recent shipment had a rare orange coloration.

The store said it is seeking a new permanent home for the rare crustacean at an aquarium.