Meet 'Tiger': Rare orange lobster found in Kitchener, Ont.

A seafood market in Kitchener, Ont. is looking for a new home for a rare crustacean.

Caudle’s Catch Seafood in Kitchener discovered an orange lobster in a shipment from Yarmouth, N.S. on Thursday.

“[I was] just shocked,” owner Ron Caudle said. “I know they exist, but you very rarely see one.”

Experts say one in only around 30 million lobsters are orange.

Ron Caudle of Caudle’s Catch Seafood in Kitchener, Ont. holds a rare orange lobster found in a shipment Thursday. (Dan Lauckner/CTV Kitchener)

Caudle’s staff have named the lobster Tiger, because of its rare colour and black spots. Although they specialize in seafood, Caudle wants to give the lobster to an aquarium so others can see it too.

“Because it’s so rare we want people to see it. We want to give it a long life where people can see the different colour and be amazed at something that rare,” Caudle said.

For now, Caudle has reached out to the Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto and is in the process of trying to get Tiger into the facility.

“They have to go through their departments. We have to fill out some forms, and then they’ll make a decision whether they’ll take it. I hope they do,” Caudle said.

Inspired by its black spots, staff have named the lobster Tiger. (Dan Lauckner/CTV Kitchener)

In his 40 years working in the seafood business Caudle said he’s only ever seen one other lobster with an orange colour like Tiger.

“We go through hundreds to thousands depending on the time of the year. So multiply that by 52 weeks by 40 years, that’s a lot of lobster,” he said.

If he can’t get Tiger into the Ripley’s Aquarium, Caudle said he will keep contacting other aquariums so the lobster can have a permanent home.

Tiger stands out beside a more common coloured lobster. (Dan Lauckner/CTV Kitchener)