“Extremely rare” orange lobster finds new home at Denver’s Downtown Aquarium

An extremely rare orange lobster rescued by a Pueblo Red Lobster employee arrived at his new home in Denver’s Downtown Aquarium on Wednesday.

Roughly one in 30 million lobsters is orange because of a genetic mutation that prevents encoded proteins, aquarium officials said in a news release. By comparison, around one in 2 million lobsters is blue, according to the New England Aquarium.

The orange lobster was spotted by a Red Lobster dishwasher who was unpacking a shipment of the crustaceans on Friday, the Pueblo Chieftain reported. He alerted the restaurant’s leadership, who then started looking for a new home for the rare lobster.

Restaurant staff quickly fell in love with the animal and named him “Crush,” after the Denver Bronco’s legendary Orange Crush defense, said Downtown Aquarium General Curator Ryan Herman.