It almost looks like it’s been cooked, but scientists at the University of New England say the orange lobster caught by a Scarborough fisherman is very much alive and now enjoying a permanent home at the college.

The lobster is living at the university’s Arthur P. Girard Marine Science Center. The center has been used to rehabilitate and study rare lobsters over the years, according to a statement from the university.

Charles Tilburg, academic director of the School of Marine and Environmental Programs and director of the Marine center, said the female lobster likely got her orange color from “a combination of genetic and environmental factors.”

Scarborough-based fisherman Gregg Turner caught the orange lobster in Casco Bay, and donated it to the university. Turner and his crew also caught a Calico lobster over the winter and donated it to the university. That lobster is now named Sprinkles, but university officials said the orange lobster has not yet been named.

Oddly-colored lobsters are rare. Scientists estimate lobstermen catch one blue lobster for every 2 million.  

Orange lobsters, like the university’s latest acquisition, are “about one in 30 million.”

The university studies lobsters as part of research projects into issues such as the impact of warming waters on lobster reproduction and growth.

(Photo: University of New England)