In nature, lobsters are usually a greenish, brownish or bluish shade. They only turn red while they’re being cooked.

The shells of lobsters contain a reddish pigment known as astaxanthin and a darker protein known as crustacyanin. In nature, the crustacyanin reacts to make the shell of a lobster appear dark. But while the protein is broken up with heat, astaxanthin is not. So the darker colors are replaced by the bright red to which we’re accustomed. Very rarely, live lobsters are found to be red due to a deficiency in the crustacyanin protein. Some unusual varieties can also be yellow or even white.

Of course, many folks hesitate to eat lobster anyway, since they’re cooked live because they tend to spoil so quickly. But scientists assure us that the ganglionic nervous system in a lobster’s body means that it doesn’t have the capacity to feel “pain” the way that creatures with a central nervous system do. Let’s hope that this is, indeed, the case.