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Do octopuses feel pain?

Not just a reflex. The evidence points to something they actually feel.

A common octopus on a reef, its body and arms clearly visible among seaweed
Photo by Diego Delso, delso.photo, CC BY-SA 4.0

Almost any animal will pull away from something harmful. That's a reflex. The harder question is whether an animal feels pain, the unpleasant experience that we know all too well.

Avoiding the place where it hurt

A 2021 study tested this in octopuses. Researchers gave them a choice of chambers to spend time in. After octopuses experienced pain in one chamber, they avoided it. After they experienced relief from pain in another, they preferred that one. When there was no pain involved, they showed no preference either way. Source Crook, 2021(opens in a new tab)

Learning to avoid a place because of how it made you feel is a sign of more than a reflex.

Tending the spot

The octopuses also groomed the exact spot that hurt. When that spot was numbed with a local anesthetic, the grooming stopped. Source Crook, 2021(opens in a new tab)

The researcher's conclusion was that octopuses are likely to experience the emotional side of pain, not just the physical reaction. Source Crook, 2021(opens in a new tab)

What science and law now say

That study wasn't the only evidence. In 2021, a review commissioned by the UK government looked at more than 300 scientific studies and found strong evidence that octopuses and other cephalopods are sentient. Source Birch et al., 2021(opens in a new tab)

The following year, the UK's Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 formally recognized them as sentient beings. Source legislation.gov.uk, 2022(opens in a new tab)

That's a big part of why we do what we do. No guilt, just one small choice once you know.

Bucky saysLiked this? Becoming an Octopedarian takes about 20 seconds. Join the movement

Sources

  1. Birch, J., Burn, C., Schnell, A., Browning, H., & Crump, A. (2021). Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans. London School of Economics and Political Science (report commissioned by the UK government). www.lse.ac.uk/News/News-Assets/PDFs/2021/Sentience-in-Cephalopod-Molluscs-and-Decapod-Crustaceans-Final-Report-November-2021.pdf
  2. Crook, R. J. (2021). Behavioral and neurophysiological evidence suggests affective pain experience in octopus. iScience 24(3), 102229. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102229
  3. UK Parliament (2022). Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. legislation.gov.uk. www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/22/contents

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