{"id":289279,"date":"2026-07-07T16:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/289279\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T16:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:27:10","slug":"super-rare-orange-lobster-molts-at-new-york-aquarium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/289279\/","title":{"rendered":"Super rare orange lobster molts at New York Aquarium"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For Luigi the lobster<\/a>, it was simply time to grow. Literally. The spineless American lobster (Homarus americanus) recently molted<\/a>\u2014when a crustacean sheds its outer shell\u2014in front of visitors to the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn. Luigi is an unusual shade of orange that is only seen in one in 30 million American lobsters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the morning in question, keeper staff discovered a molt in Luigi\u2019s habitat,\u201d William Hana<\/a>, the Director of Animal Programs at New York Aquarium, tells Popular Science.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on our experience, molts typically occur during the evening hours and may continue overnight. Following the molt, Luigi displayed the bright coloration characteristic of a newly formed shell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Luigi<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tLuigi the lobster molts\t\t\t<\/p>\n

During molting<\/a>, crustaceans take in excess water. The water then pushes against the shell, and splits it. The lobster then takes the rest of its body out like taking a foot out of a shoe, as it sheds its old outer shell. A shiny new softshell then emerges as the animal\u2019s exoskeleton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That new shell is soft and paper-thin, so crustaceans are more vulnerable after molting. Since Luigi was housed alone at the time, he did not have to worry about predators or aggressive behavior from other animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Young lobsters tend to molt multiple times per year because they are growing more rapidly. Once they reach adulthood, lobsters tend to molt annually. Molting rates can vary between lobsters under human care like Luigi and those in the wild. Since aquarium lobsters live in a protected habitat with consistent feedings, they are typically able to devote more energy to growing instead of foraging and avoiding predators. However, one food source is consistent no matter where a lobster lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cLobsters frequently consume their shed exoskeleton after molting,\u201d Hana says. \u201cThis behavior allows them to reclaim calcium and other essential minerals needed to harden their new, soft shell. For this reason, our staff typically leave the shed shell in the habitat for several days following a molt so the animal has the opportunity to feed on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

American lobsters are typically a dark-blue green or greenish-brown colo<\/a>r, but Luigi\u2019s rare orange hue makes him look a little more like a lobster you may encounter on a dinner plate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He gets his color from a genetic mutation caused by the lack of proteins that help bond the pigments in his shell. The chances of finding an orange lobster like Luigi in the wild are about one in 30 million. He can also be viewed near a rare blue lobster (one in 200 million). Happy growing, crustaceans!<\/p>\n

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Laura is Popular Science\u2019s news editor, overseeing coverage of a wide variety of subjects. Laura is particularly fascinated by all things aquatic, paleontology, nanotechnology, and exploring how science influences daily life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get the Popular Science daily newsletter\ud83d\udca1 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10,12],"class_list":["post-289279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}