Crabs can feel pain, according to a new study – prompting calls for more humane ways to kill shellfish.
Boiling crabs and lobsters alive is a common method of cooking them in the kitchen.
But it is time to find less painful alternatives, according to researchers at the University of Gothenburg who made the discovery about how the creatures process pain.
Eleftherios Kasiouras, a PhD candidate at the university, found painful stimuli are sent to and processed by a crab’s brain, which he said was “just more proof” the animal can feel pain.
The study is the first research to show the creatures have a nervous system that can respond to harmful stimuli.
Mr Kasiouras and his team measured the brain activity of 20 shore crabs by attaching electrodes to a set of nerves, called ganglia, that make up their central nervous system.
They then applied a variety of stimuli, including a painful form of vinegar and electric shocks, to the soft tissue of different parts of the crab’s body. This caused an increase in brain activity.
However, the same effect was not seen when salt water and other non-painful stimuli were applied to those areas.
Eleftherios Kasiouras, who conducted the experiment. Pic: Eleftherios Kasiouras
Mr Kasiouras said this suggests pain in crabs is “conveyed and transferred to the brain, and [is] recorded there”, much like many other animals including humans.
Previous research has been mainly observational, showing that crustaceans touch areas that have been exposed to something painful.
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The team called for more humane ways to handle and kill crustaceans, with Mr Kasiouras saying: “If they’re suffering, we need to find ways to minimise their pain.”
Farmed crabs are often kept together in small tanks, which Mr Kasiouras described as “really miserable” conditions.
Although the UK recognises crustaceans as sentient animals, they are not covered by animal welfare legislation in the EU.
This means there aren’t any guidelines on how to humanely handle or kill them, whether that is in labs or kitchens.
“I hope with more research, we will push these results to the EU and hopefully they will implement some legalisation,” Mr Kasiouras said.
