Hello Biscuit! Another rare orange lobster rescued by Ripley’s

GATLINBURG, T.N. (WGHP) — Another orange lobster has been rescued from Red Lobster this week.

Last month in Hollywood Florida, a rare orange lobster was rescued and found a haven at the Ripley’s Aquarium of Myrtle Beach. Ripley’s dubbed the unique little critter Cheddar, in honor of Red Lobster’s signature biscuits.

On Monday, another orange lobster was rescued from a Red Lobster in Meridian Mississippi. Continuing the theme, Ripley’s has dubbed this new addition to their aquarium family “Biscuit.”

With the addition of Biscuit, Ripley’s Aquariums now have three “one-in-thirty-million” lobsters: Cheddar, Biscuit and Pinchy (like the lobster from an iconic episode of “The Simpsons.”) Now the experts want to look into what actually causes this phenomenon and just how rare they actually are.

“Orange lobsters are uncommon but perhaps not as rare as we first thought,” said Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies Director of Husbandry, Jared Durrett. “Lobsters obtain their color through the pigments they ingest in their diet. If these orange lobsters are being harvested from the same region, perhaps their localized diet contains a pigment that, when paired with the lobster’s genetics, creates the orange coloration we are seeing.”

Red Lobster believes that Biscuit is from the same fishing area as Cheddar, which supports the theory that diet contributes to the orange coloration.

“We plan to dive deeper into this and study the reasons why this abnormality is occurring more often. Our partnership with Red Lobster will allow us to capture data from fishermen, which typically is not easy to come by due to confidentiality,” said Durrett.

“As one of the largest restaurant companies in the world, we see a lot of lobsters. And, on the rare occasion we receive a lobster like Biscuit, we have to ask why? We are hearing from our fishermen in the area where both Cheddar and Biscuit were caught that they are seeing a lot of orange lobsters this time of year. This seems to indicate the coloring is coming from a different food source. We’re excited to support Ripley’s research into this and learn more about our changing lobster populations,” said Nicole Bott, Senior Director, Communications at Red Lobster.

Biscuit is acclimating to her new home and will go on exhibit later in the year.