Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T22:59:51.236Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evidence for pain in decapod crustaceans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

RW Elwood
RW Elwood*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK
*
email: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Vast numbers of decapods are used in human food and currently subject to extreme treatments and there is concern that they might experience pain. If pain is indicated then a positive change in the care afforded to this group has the potential to produce a major advance in animal welfare. However, it is difficult to determine pain in animals. The vast majority of animal phyla have a nociceptive ability that enables them to detect potential or actual tissue damage and move away by a reflex response. In these cases there is no need to assume an unpleasant feeling that we call pain. However, various criteria have been proposed that might indicate pain rather than simple nociception. Here, with respect to decapod crustaceans, four such criteria are discussed: avoidance learning, physiological responses, protective motor reactions and motivational trade-offs. The evidence from various experiments indicates that all four criteria are fulfilled and the data are thus consistent with the idea of pain. The responses cannot be explained by nociception alone but, it is still difficult to state categorically that pain is experienced by decapods. However, the evidence is as strong for this group as it is for fish but the idea that fish experience pain has broader acceptance than does the idea of decapod pain. A taxonomic bias is evident in the evaluation of experimental data.

Keywords

animal welfareavoidance learningdecapodmotivational trade-offnociceptionprotective motor reaction
Type
Papers
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 21 , Issue S2: Proceedings of the HSA Centenary International Symposium ‘Recent Advances in the Welfare of Livestock at Slaughter’ Historic Dockyard, Portsmouth, UK, 2011 , June 2012 , pp. 23 - 27
Copyright
© 2012 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Appel, M and Elwood, RW 2009a Gender differences, responsiveness and memory of a potentially painful event in hermit crabs. Animal Behaviour 78: 1373–1379. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.09.008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Appel, M and Elwood, RW 2009b Motivational trade-offs and the potential for pain experience in hermit crabs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 119: 120–124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2009.03.013CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, WJP and Dunn, PDC 1981a Neural correlates of leg learning in the shore crab, Carcinus maenas. Marine Behaviour and Physiology 8: 83–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10236248109387005Google Scholar
Barnes, WJP and Dunn, PDC 1981b Learning of leg position in the shore crab, Carcinus maenas. Marine Behaviour and Physiology 8: 67–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10236248109387004Google Scholar
Barr, S and Elwood, RW 2011 No evidence of morphine analgesia to noxious shock in the shore crab, Carcinus maenas. Behavioural Processes 86: 340–344. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2011.02.002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barr, S, Laming, PR, Dick, JTA and Elwood, RW 2008 Nociception or pain in a decapod crustacean? Animal Behaviour 75: 745–751. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.07.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bateson, P 1991 Assessment of pain in animals. Animal Behaviour 42: 827–839. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(05)80127-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Besson, JM and Chaouch, P 1986 Peripheral and spinal mechanisms of nociception. Physiological Reviews 67: 88–186Google Scholar
Braithwaite, V 2010 Do Fish Feel Pain? Oxford University Press: Oxford UKGoogle Scholar
Broom, DM 2001 Evolution of pain. In: Soulsby, EJL and Morton, D (eds) Pain: Its Nature and Management in Man and Animals. Royal Society of Medicine International Congress Symposium Series, Volume 246 pp 17–25. Royal Society of Medicine: London UKGoogle Scholar
Broom, DM 2007 Cognitive ability and sentience: which aquatic animals should be protected? Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 75: 99–108. http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/dao075099CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carere, C, Wood, JB and Mather, J 2011 Species differences in captivity: where are the invertebrates? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 26: 211. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.01.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chandroo, KP, Duncan, IJH and Moccia, RD 2004 Can fish suffer? Perspectives on sentience, pain, fear and stress. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 86: 225–250. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2004.02.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danbury, TC, Weeks, CA, Waterman-Pearson, AE, Kestin, SC and Chambers, JP 2000 Self-selection of the analgesic drug carprofen by lame broiler chickens. Veterinary Record 146: 307–311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.146.11307CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Denti, A, Dimant, B and Maldonado, H 1988 Passive avoidance learning in the crab Chasmagnathus granulatus. Physiology and Behavior 43: 317–320. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(88)90194-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dowds, BM and Elwood, RW 1983 Shell wars: assessment strategies and the timing of decisions in hermit crab fights. Behaviour 85: 1–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853983X00011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dowds, BM and Elwood, RW 1985 Shell wars 2: the influence of relative size on decisions made during hermit crab shell fights. Animal Behaviour 33: 649–656. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(85)80088-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunlop, R, Millsopp, S and Laming, P 2006 Avoidance learning in goldfish (Carassius auratus) and trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and implications for pain perception. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 97: 255–271. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2005.06.018CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elwood, RW 2011 Pain and suffering in invertebrates. ILAR Journal 52: 175–184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elwood, RW and Appel, M 2009 Pain in hermit crabs? Animal Behaviour 77: 1243–1246. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.01.028CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elwood, RW and Stewart, A 1985 The timing of decisions during shell investigation by the hermit crab, Pagurus bernhardus. Animal Behaviour 33: 620–627. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(85)80086-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elwood, RW, Barr, S and Patterson, L 2009 Pain and stress in crustaceans? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 118: 128–136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2009.02.018CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elwood, RW, McClean, A and Webb, L 1979 The development of shell preferences by the hermit crab, Pagurus bernhardus. Animal Behaviour 27: 940–946. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0003-3472(79)90032-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoyle, G 1976 Learning of leg position by the ghost crab Ocypode ceratophthalma. Behavioral Biology 18: 147–163. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0091-6773(76)92038-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
IASP (International Association for the Study of Pain) 1979 Pain terms: a list with definitions and notes on usage. Pain 6: 249–252Google Scholar
Kawai, N, Kono, R and Sugimoto, S 2004 Avoidance learning in the crayfish (Procambarus clarkia) depends on the predatory imminence of the unconditioned stimulus: a behavior systems approach to learning in invertebrates. Behavioural Brain Research 150: 229–237CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellert, RS 1993 Values and perceptions of invertebrates. Conservation Biology 7: 845–855CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loeser, JD and Treede, RD 2008 The Kyoto protocol of IASP basic pain terminology. Pain 137: 473–477CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lüschen, W, Willig, A, Peter, P and Jaros, PP 1993 The role of biogenic amines in the control of blood glucose level in the decapod crustacean, Carcinus maenas L. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Comparative Pharmacology 105: 291–296CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, GJ 2011 Invertebrate welfare: where is the real evidence for conscious affective states? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 26: 212–213. http://dx.doi.org/10.101 6/j.tree.2011.02.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millsopp, S and Laming, P 2008 Trade-offs between feeding and shock avoidance in goldfish (Carassius auratus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 113: 247–254. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.11.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, L, Dick, JTA and Elwood, RW 2007 Physiological stress responses in the edible crab Cancer pagurus to the fishery practice of de-clawing. Marine Biology 152: 265–272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00227-007-0681-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, L, Dick, JTA and Elwood, RW 2009 Claw loss and feeding ability in the edible crab, Cancer pagurus: implications of fishery practice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 116: 302-305. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2008.08.007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Punzo, F 1983 Localization of brain function and neurochemical correlates of learning in the mud crab, Eurypanopeus depressus (Decapoda). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology 75: 299–305. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0300-9629(83)90085-3Google Scholar
Puri, S and Faulkes, Z 2010 Do decapod crustaceans have nociceptors for extreme pH? PLoS One 5: e10244. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010244CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rose, D 2002 The neurobehavioral nature of fishes and the question of awareness and pain. Reviews in Fisheries Science 10: 1–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20026491051668CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sherrington, C 1906 The Integrative Action of the Nervous System. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Sherwin, CM 2001 Can invertebrates suffer? Or how robust is argument by analogy? Animal Welfare 10: S103–S118CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shibata, M, Ohkubo, T, Takahashi, H and Inoki, R 1989 Modified formalin test: characteristic biphasic pain response. Pain 38: 347–352. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-3959(89)90222-4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Short, CE 1998 Fundamentals of pain perception in animals. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 59: 125–133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(98)00127-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sneddon, LU 2009 Pain perception in fish: Indicators and endpoints. ILAR Journal 50: 338–342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sneddon, LU, Braithwaite, VA and Gentle, MJ 2003a Do fishes have nociceptors? Evidence for the evolution of a vertebrate sensory system. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B270: 1115–1121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2349CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sneddon, LU, Braithwaite, VA and Gentle, MJ 2003b Novel object test: examining nociception and fear in the rainbow trout. Journal of Pain 4: 431–440. http://dx.doi.org/10.1067/S1526-5900(03)00717-XCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weary, DM, Neil, L, Flower, FC and Fraser, D 2006 Identifying and preventing pain in animals. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 100: 64–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2006.04.013CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmerman, M 1986 Physiological mechanisms of pain and its treatment. Klinische Anaesthesiologie Intensivetherapie 32: 1–19Google Scholar