Sentient Sensations: Protecting the Very Real Feelings of Octopuses, Crabs and Lobsters

If you’re a fan of the show Friends, you may remember Phoebe exclaiming “See … he’s her lobster!” after Ross and Rachel get together. The character was using lobsters as an analogy after saying earlier in the episode that lobsters fall in love and mate for life.

While it made for a sweet detail in that storyline, the part about the real lobsters wasn’t true. Male lobsters actually mate with multiple females over the course of their lives, only remaining monogamous for short periods of time.

BUT … according to a review by the London School of Economics commissioned by the UK government, lobsters—along with crabs and octopuses—”are capable of experiencing pain or suffering.” Declared sentient beings, the creatures are now to be granted protection under new animal welfare laws.

So maybe there is more emotion to their love connections than we’ve given them credit for in the past …

The Netflix Effect

Last year, when we were all still in lockdown, you may have heard buzz about the Netflix film My Octopus Teacher, which was about a diver in South Africa that forged a friendship with a female octopus. She shared her life with him in a remarkable way that could easily be described as ‘sentimental.’

The movie won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in addition to a whole host of other awards worldwide. Why was it so popular? Aside from the beautiful cinematography, those who watched couldn’t help but feel emotional about the bond between this teacher and student. The octopus was undoubtedly a being with sensitivities, connections and feelings.

Maybe pop culture had a hunch about what these scientists may have suspected all along?

Cephalopods and Decapods

The UK study referenced above examined the connection between the brain and pain receptors as well as learning abilities and protection against injury. In all, they used eight different ways to measure sentience.

In addition to lobsters and octopuses, all of the creatures that fall into the cephalopod (in the molluscan class) and decapod (in the malacostraca class) categories were determined to be sentient. The UK report went so far as to say that the practice of boiling these creatures alive should be avoided and instead provided best practices for slaughter.

Why? Because instead of an autonomic nervous system that can shock itself into shutting down in times of extreme pain, crustaceans suffer for as long as the pain lasts—most often until they actually die. Even when dismembered, their nervous system is capable of functioning for up to an hour. Thankfully, this cruelty can be avoided by different methods of euthanizing the creatures before consumption.

Not Entirely Breaking News

Though this research may move the needle by way of laws to protect cephalopods and decapods, this isn’t the first time there’s been an indication of pain in their species. A report in Science back in 2014 by French researchers identified that anxiety-like behavior in crayfish was controlled by serotonin. With increased levels of this neurotransmitter in the brain and then an expression of relief when anxiolytic drugs (much like those used in humans) were administered, it’s evident that complex emotions once thought only capable by mammals and other vertebrates are also present in such creatures.

Additionally, a study in San Francisco earlier this year, which specifically focused on octopuses, found that they “could discriminate between different qualities and intensities of pain in different locations on their bodies.” The neurobiologists in this lab conducted the study to prove invertebrate pain “beyond reasonable doubt” and hopefully advance more humane treatment of the creatures as a result.

Feeling Crabby

Isn’t it funny that when we’re in a mood we sometimes refer to it as being “crabby” likening our grouchiness to the sea creatures’ demeanor?

Perhaps now we may have solid proof why they earned such a reputation.