'1 in 30 million': Rare orange lobster discovered at restaurant in New York

A rare orange lobster was discovered in a supermarket restaurant in Williamsville, New York, a rarity that marine life experts compare to "winning the lottery".

"It definitely was wild," owner and general manager of Hayes Seafood House Nicholas Pyzikiewicz told USA TODAY.

"When I opened our package with all the live lobsters, I saw one that was brightly colored. I thought they sent us a cooked lobster because lobsters turn red when they're cooked. Otherwise, they are like a brownish-red color."

"When I picked him up, he told me with his claws that he was alive," shared Pyzikiewicz. He said he called the lobster company who sent the package to his supermarket and they told him that it was extremely rare.

While it is not clear where exactly the lobster was found, Pyzikiewicz said the supply of lobsters had come from Maine, up the coast, all the way to Canada.

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'1 in 30 million'

Pyzikiewicz said that he had never seen a lobster like this before.

"The odds of seeing one is 1 in 30 million," he shared.

The lobster is alive and well, in a perfectly healthy condition and is currently residing in a lobster tank at Hayes. In fact, some of Hayes Seafood House customers have been eyeing the lobster, offering to take it home.

"I want to make sure he's okay," said Pyzikiewicz.

Pyzikiewicz then got in touch with the Aquarium of Niagra in Niagara Falls, New York so that they could help him find a permanent home for the lobster, which has been named Hayes after the store. However, details on Hayes' permanent abode remain unclear. Pyzikiewicz says that the Aquarium of Niagra connected him to Ripley's Entertainment and they decided to send Hayes to Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto.

He added that representatives of the aquarium will be coming to pick him up at 10 a.m. on Friday. However, the Toronto aquarium, in an email to USA TODAY, said that they are not accepting the lobster. USA TODAY has reached out to Ripley's in Toronto for an update but has not yet received a response.

Hayes Seafood House was initially set up as a fresh supermarket in 1877. In 1990, they expanded and opened a restaurant attached to the market and eventually morphed into a fresh market restaurant.

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Not the first

While the odds of finding an orange lobster are few, Hayes is not the first one of his kind to be discovered in the area.

In fact, he is the third one to be spotted this year, according to Pyzikiewicz, who said that he heard of one found in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

Director of Communications at the Aquarium of Niagra, Christine Stephans, seconded Pyzikiewicz, telling USA TODAY in an email that the aquarium temporarily housed several orange lobsters that were found at local Tops markets earlier this summer. She said that those lobsters have now been moved to Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto like the one found at Hayes.

The Aquarium of Niagra also housed two orange lobsters, Larry and Tangerine, which were found at local Tops Markets in 2020 and 2021. Both have moved to other facilities. Tangerine went to Oceanarium and Education Center in Bar Harbor, Maine while Larry, now known as Larry Lombardi, went to the Kansas City Zoo.

Why are orange lobsters special?

Orange lobsters look orange due to a genetic mutation, Stephans explained.

"They do not produce the protein that makes the shell its traditional reddish-brown color. They are the same species of American lobster that you see in restaurants and grocery stores, they just have a different color morph. Other color morphs include blue, yellow, white/albino, calico, and even "split" where the lobster is two different colors," she said.

Why they are being spotted with relative frequency is because of the "sheer volume of lobsters that are caught and distributed," said Stephans.

The orange lobsters' bright hue makes them stand out from their peers and they are easily identified in a catch.

'Like winning the lottery'

Aquarium of Niagra's curator of fish and invertebrates, Rafael Calderon, says that spotting an orange lobster is like winning the lottery.

"Not many people actually win, but when they do, you hear about it because of the novelty of the situation," Calderon shared.

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Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.