Blue Lobster

John Kinsman, our Marine Editor, sends us this picture and assures us it is not a product of Photoshopping.  He adds the following explanation:

The rare blue pigmentation is believed to appear in only about one in a million lobsters. It is thought that the colour is due to an overproduction of protein, which fuses with a red carotenoid molecule to create crustacyanin, which causes the blue coloration.
Blue lobsters are more easily recognisable to predators, which helps to explain their rarity. Red/brown lobsters can blend in easily with their natural environment, but blue ones have a much smaller chance of survival. It is thought that in order to survive into adulthood, blue lobsters need to develop a greater degree of aggression.

Because they are so rare, blue lobsters caught by fishermen are usually given to aquarium owners rather than being sold as food – but it is said that if they are unlucky enough to get cooked, they turn as red as ordinary lobsters do, and taste no different.