Nova Scotia is not the only place with odd looking lobsters; the original Scotland also has some strange colour morphs dwelling in its waters.

If you visit the rock pool at Deep Sea World in North Queensferry, you can for instance encounter one electric blue lobster with white markings and one pitch-black lobster adorned with vivid orange colours that contrast beautifully against the dark areas. Picture here

The blue lobster was caught a quarter of a mile off the coast of Fife on the Scottish east-coast last year by Buckhaven fisherman Keith McKay, 47.

McKay said he had occasionally seen dark blue lobsters since he started laying creels with his father as an 11-year-old boy.

But he added: “I’ve never seen anything like this one in my life. I was surprised at how pale a blue it was. It was really brightly-coloured. I would call it electric blue. I was so surprised I pulled up alongside another fishing boat to show them what I had caught.”

Strangely coloured lobsters are the result of them being genetically different from other lobsters. In the wild, not having the normal olive-grey, mottled camouflage pattern is a disadvantage since predators can spot gaudy lobsters easily against the ocean floor, but for the lobsters living at Deep Sea World, the “genetic defect” actually turned out to be an asset since their flamboyant colours is what saved them from ending up on a dinner plate.