Question: The blood of a lobster is given a bluish tint by which chemical element?
Show answer
Copper.
The blood of a lobster is given a bluish tint by the presence of copper. Lobster blood contains hemocyanin, a copper-based molecule that carries oxygen, as opposed to the iron-based molecule hemoglobin in humans which gives our blood a red color. When hemocyanin combines with oxygen, it turns blue. This is why lobster blood is clear when deoxygenated and turns blue when exposed to air.
