Everybody Hurts

Crabs Have Feelings, Too, Scientists Report

“Ouch! Quit it!”

A team of researchers from Queen’s University in Belfast devised an experiment to determine whether the shore crabs they were shocking with electrical currents were just twitchy or if they were perhaps reacting to pain. All signs point to the latter, says lead author Robert Elwood. Of course, none of this should come as a surprise, since it’s already established that fish and lobsters are more sensitive than previously thought; moreover, a crackerjack team of scientists and philosophers announced last year that all kinds of animals, including cephalopods, are conscious, and that more research into non-human consciousness needs to be carried out. So, hell yeah, crabs feel pain. Perhaps they’re even capable of feeling your pain. [MSNBC]

Crabs Have Feelings, Too, Scientists Report