Rare orange lobster gives birth to orange babies

A rare orange lobster that made headlines when it was donated to the University of New England last year has become a mother – to more than a dozen orange babies.

By giving birth, the lobster – named Peaches – has once again defied the odds, says Markus Frederich, a professor of marine sciences at the university.

"Those orange lobsters are pretty rare in itself and, supposedly, the odds are about one in 30 million of finding an orange lobster," Frederich told WMTW . "But rarely do we find any egg-bearing females."

Matching Frederich's enthusiasm are his students, who are now studying Peaches' offspring in hopes of determining the cause of the rare discoloration.

"It's so exciting. Every day I come in here, and I'm, like, on the verge of tears. I'm discovering new information that no one else has ever seen or heard of," student Ruby Motulsky told WMTW.

UNE has become a magnet for rare lobsters in recent years, housing an impressive lineup including blue, orange, yellow,...

Posted by University of New England on Tuesday, August 6, 2024

According to the university, Motulsky aims to raise Peaches' offspring through all five early developmental stages to examine the number of lobsters that share her orange color — the study of heritable traits known as epigenetics. The study also includes 40 offspring from Norma, a typical brown or "mottled" lobster.

While Peaches has 100 offspring, just over a dozen match her rare color, WMTW reported.

"Now we have them while they develop from those different larval stages. They start tiny and molt multiple times into various different shapes and sizes," Frederich told the station. "That gives us so many more options to study what makes them orange and why and how they're different from the regular-colored lobster."

Frederich said no one really knows in detail why some lobsters develop multicolor variations, though there are some theories. When Peaches arrived at the university, researchers said her unique coloration was likely due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors, such as diet.

While researchers are keeping an eye on Peaches' babies, another orange lobster named Pineapple is currently bearing eggs that are expected to hatch next spring, the university said.