Australian scientists have discovered why prawns, crabs and lobsters turn bright orange when cooked.
It is by consuming a small molecule, known as a carotenoid, and then linking it to protein unique to crustaceans, that the creatures become so brightly coloured.
When they are in the sea prawns, crabs and lobsters are able to control the colour for communication and make themselves darker for camouflage.
But when cooked, the process is disrupted, and the original orange colour is released.
The team of Queensland-based scientists behind the discovery say it is the first time we have really understood the process.
Their work could help conservationists, fish farmers and may even lead to a new food colourant.
"This knowledge of how crustaceans produce and control colour helps us understand the genetic diversity and evolution that underpins this group of highly successful group of animals," Dr Nick Wade said.
The scientist made the discovery with colleagues from the Australian Institute of Marine Science and published the findings in the Journal of Molecular Biology and Evolution.
The colour of lobsters, crabs and prawns is strongly linked to how attractive they are as food, with brightly coloured creatures attracting a premium price, Dr Wade said.
Therefore it could lead to fish farmers ensuring the specific bright red carotenoid, astaxanthin, found in algae, bacteria and plants, is fed to the creatures.
Once they consume the carotenoid molecule, the crustaceans mix it with the protein crustacyanin to modify the wavelength of the molecule and produce whichever colour is required.
However the process is disrupted when crustaceans are cooked and the original bright orange from the carotenoid is released.
No other creatures use such a process, Dr Wade said.
"Apart from crustaceans, no other animals we analysed had the crustacyanin gene.
"Therefore, we now know that crustaceans have evolved a unique way of using this simple carotenoid building block to produce all their colours," the scientist said.
Once the carotenoid is mixed with the protein it becomes water soluble, leading scientists to believe the compound could be used for food colouring.
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