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One in two million lobsters are blue because of a genetic defect.

An estimated one in 2 million lobsters are blue.[18] A genetic mutation causes a blue lobster to produce an excessive amount of a particular protein.[19] The protein and a red carotenoid molecule known as astaxanthin combine to form a blue complex known as crustacyanin, giving the lobster its blue color.[20] In 2009 a blue lobster was caught in New Hampshire;[21] in 2011, two blue lobsters were caught in Canada, one off of Prince Edward Island,[22] and another in the Esgenoôpetitj First Nation territory in New Brunswick;[22] another was caught in May 2012 off Nova Scotia.[23] Most recently a blue lobster was caught off Pine Point in Scarborough, Maine in August 2014, and was donated to a local aquarium to join 3 other blue lobsters.[24]

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