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The Effects of Caustic Soda and Benzocaine on Directed Grooming to the Eyestalk in the Glass Prawn, Palaemon elegans, Are Consistent with the Idea of Pain in Decapods

Authors :
Stuart Barr
Robert W. Elwood
Source :
Animals, Vol 14, Iss 3, p 364 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

Acceptance of the possibility of pain in animals usually requires that various criteria are fulfilled. One such criterion is that a noxious stimulus or wound would elicit directed rubbing or grooming at the site of the stimulus. There is also an expectation that local anaesthetics would reduce these responses to damage. These expectations have been fulfilled in decapod crustaceans but there has been criticism of a lack of replication. Here, we report an experiment on the effects of a noxious chemical, sodium hydroxide, applied to one eyestalk of the glass prawn. This caused an immediate escape tail-flick response. It then caused nipping and picking with the chelipeds at the treated eyestalk but much less so at the alternative eyestalk. Prior treatment with benzocaine also caused an immediate tail-flick and directed behaviour, suggesting that this agent is aversive. Subsequently, however, it reduced the directed behaviour caused by caustic soda. We thus demonstrated responses that are consistent with the idea of pain in decapod crustaceans.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20762615
Volume :
14
Issue :
3
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Animals
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.83ad37a6203a4ed38deb0397714a7e87
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14030364