Lobster for dinner

The last time you 1 on a live lobster for dinner, you might not have given any thought to how much the little guy was going to suffer as he boiled to death. Until recently many researchers 2 the crustacean nervous system too primitive to process pain. But 3 at Queen's University in Belfast now think that crustaceans may be more sensitive to pain than 4 thought.The researchers used crabs as their test animals. And they found that crabs that 5 an 6 shock when they hid under a safe, dark rock would 7 learn to avoid the hiding place. And that avoidance is key: the animals' ability to remember the unpleasant shock and avoid it is consistent with the ability to feel and remember pain. If the behavior was merely a reflex, the critters would continue to visit the shelter.The study is in the Journal of Experimental Biology. [Also see Nicola Stead, Painful Feelings in Crabs] The situation is likely the same with lobsters. So before you break out the bibs and melted butter, it might be nice to put your future dinner on a little anesthetic ice.