What is the evidence that these creatures feel pain? It has to be considered that the issue regarding pain is an important one not merely to prove sentience but as a consideration against the inhumane treatment of these animals, the most hideously cruel of which is cooking them alive! Caught lobsters and crabs after being kept alive for long periods of time are submerged in water and boiled alive. It has never occurred to me that crustaceans, or any other creatures, do not feel pain, to my mind this is obvious, pain is a vital survival mechanism. Humans are sentient on different levels and to different degrees, for a more detailed discussion on sentience please refer to Sentience in Farm Animals. Remember that sentience, conscious awareness, varies in both kind and degree from one species to another or even within the same species. Having said that though, an inability to experience pain as we perceive pain would not indicate the absence of sentience merely the absence of this aspect of sentience. A creature has to be aware to experience pain and suffering, therefore if it can be demonstrated that an animal feels pain we must accept that the animal is on some level a sentient being.

Lets look at some of the characteristics and behaviours of crustaceans that indicate sentience.įirstly the most fundamental and most obvious: An ability to feel painĪs with any creature the most basic indication of sentience is the animal's ability to feel pain. But what evidence other than common sense will convince a sceptic that these creatures have a conscious awareness of themselves, other creatures and their environment and that these animals can think and feel, even experience emotions both negative and positive? It is my opinion that without a doubt all complex animals are sentient and crustaceans are no exception, such to my mind is common sense. Attributing consciousness to crustaceans for many people it would seem is even more difficult than considering the possibility of sentience in fish, the least considered of all vertebrates (animals with a back bone) to be sentient.įor now I will consider the sentience of aquatic crustaceans, three of the most familiar: lobsters, crayfish and crabs. I think one of the greatest stumbling blocks most people have in assigning sentience to these creatures is the considerable difference between them and ourselves. Most humans treat invertebrates as though they are creatures without feelings either physical, such as an ability to feel pain, or emotional. Crustaceans include crabs, lobsters, crayfish, barnacles, shrimps, snails, and woodlice to name just a few. netĬrustaceans are invertebrates (animals without a backbone) consisting of a vast number of species numbering approximately 42,000. Like nearly all multicellular animals crustaceans have a central nervous system consisting of a brain, a ventral nerve cord and ganglia, more about this later.įor an interesting explanation about the sensory capacity of crustaceans read the article Inside the brain of a crayfish from Biology news. Lobsters have compound eyes, as do most arthropods, but these are stalked to provide a broader field of view.

However, it should be obvious that any creature with sensory organs has at least this quality of consciousness.Ĭrustaceans have exoskeletal sense organs which include hairs sensitive to sound, touch, odour, taste, humidity or temperature, and often two compound eyes and one or more simple eyes.

The largest kind of crustacean, the giant spider crab of Japan, measures up to 12 feet across between its outstretched claws.Įven more so than fish, Crustaceans are less likely to be considered as sentient or in other words aware and conscious of the world around them. Lobsters may live for well over one hundred years. Like humans, lobsters carry their young for nine months. Lobsters, like snails and spiders, have blue blood due to the presence of Haemocyanin', which contains Copper' Sentience in Farm Animals main introduction Sentience in Farm Animals: Aquatic Animals, Crustaceans

Crab sentience