Why did lobsters evolve bright colors if they are neither poisonous nor venomous?

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I could add stories about watching lobster fishermen when I was an adult living in Maine but must restrain myself; too many words spoil writing. In my old age, I have decided it’s time to learn how to write movingly, a skill I haven’t yet mastered.

Thinking about live lobsters makes me remember my New York City childhood long ago. My mother occasionally took my sister and me to the fish market on 106th and Amsterdam Ave. The store was run by Americans who spoke only English which made it seem intimidating. There, we gazed at the many fish and crustaceans on ice, wondering which delicacy my mother would purchase. She was an observant Catholic, so we had a fish-based meal every Friday. My passion for eating seafood remains to this day.

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Lobsters and crabs have a pigment called astaxanthin in their shells, which has the ability to absorb blue light, making the shell appear red under certain conditions. When the lobster is alive, the pigment is safely stored inside a membrane hidden in the shell called the crustacyanin. It’s packed so tightly inside the lobster shell that the pigment is trapped inside the membrane, unable to flow freely. That means that crustacean usually appears in those muted dark blue or green tones.

As an old man, I am interested in the science behind this.

Everyone knows that Maine lobsters are bright red. That naturally leads to questions about the adaptive value of that color.

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Occasionally, my mother would buy lobsters, take them home, and put them into a big pot of boiling water. The child I was back then, was fascinated by the lobsters trying to crawl out. But as an old man, I am appalled by the suffering those tasty animals must have endured.

By the way, other animals have astaxanthin. It’s a carotenoid and helps give salmon meat it’s red color.

On account of that experience, I know that live lobsters aren’t brightly colored. Instead, they have dull colors that help them hide in the bottom of the ocean.

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That fish market was a place of wonderment for me. Of course, when one is a child, even the most ordinary places seem that way. This modern photo gives a tiny sense of what that was like.