>Have you ever put a mollusk in boiling water on the stove?  They indeed have
>feelings, if their reaction is any indication.

Yes, of course they will have pain receptors. Long ago I used to boil
them, but mainly for this reason I stopped (also boiling can fracture
the shells). I went to freezing, which is a RELATIVELY painless way
to go, at least for humans. But this can fracture shells too (Astraea
heliotropium takes very poorly to either thermal method). Then I went
to dropping them in fresh water for a few days, but as the tissues
absorb water, this may cause pain also. Nowadays I just leave the
specimens to expire by asphixiation; they don't have lungs or a
breathing reflex, so won't suffer the way a lunged vertebrate would.
Some animals, including upper-slope beasies, can remain alive without
water for a week or more.

I must say that I HATE killing them, and in the field go out of my
way to TRY not to step on littorinids, for instance. But a serious
collector of Recent shells has no choice if he wishes to collect his
own. If you refuse to kill, collect only fossils; these can give
great satisfaction! (I collect both).

>  There is no sharp
>dividing line between sentience and non-sentience. Different people would
>likely choose different dividing lines using sentient criteria. Note that if
>you gave special status to individuals who are conscious or
>self-aware, you would include at least some non-human species, but
>you would also exclude some humans!

Well-put, and SO RIGHT.

Many invertebrates are now beginning to be recognized to exhibit
extremely complex behaviors, and this implies that, despite small
brain-sizes, there is something "cerebral" going on in there. Always
remember that brain size isn't really relevant to intelligence, or a
sperm whale would be the most intelligent animal of all (in fact it's
about as smart as the average dog). And remember that parrots have
relatively small brains but exhibit an uncanny amount of
intelligence, even being able to create their own sentences (speech,
not jail), which implies that they can actually understand what they
are saying... so much for the expression "parrot-fashion".

Back to try out the list after an absence of a couple of years...
--
Andrew Grebneff
165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
<[log in to unmask]>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut