Fisherman Catches Rare 'Cotton Candy' Lobster, Donates It to Aquarium

Lucky, a cotton candy-colored lobster, has been turning heads ever since he was caught off the coast of Canada's Grand Manan Island last month. As The Dodo reports, the rare blue-pink crustacean has since been donated to the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in New Brunswick, where he continues to dazzle visitors.

"If all of this attention is making Lucky blush, exactly what color would he turn?" the Marine Centre wrote in a Facebook post about Lucky's newfound fame.

Robinson Russell, the fisherman who caught the crustacean and donated it to the aquarium, said, "I have been fishing for over 20 years and it’s the first one I’ve ever seen of that color."

Researchers with the Lobster Institute at the University of Maine told The Dodo that a lobster of Lucky's pigmentation is roughly one in 100 million, making it just as rare as an albino lobster. By another estimate, lobsters like Lucky turn up once every four to five years.

Researchers says the coloring is caused by a genetic mutation that affects pigments in the lobster's shell. Most lobsters tend to be gray or brown—turning red only when boiled—but yellow, bright orange, and blue lobsters have all been spotted in the past.

Check out National Geographic's video below to see Lucky on the move.