Dividing an anemone in 1/2, photoguide

[sarduci]

Depends on the fish, you may get anywhere from 2 to 4 filet o' fish out of it..... =?P

The true questions here are:

Just because it's not human, is it ok to do something that might kill it?

Just because it dose not have emotions, is it ok to inflict injuries on something? (yes, they do feel pain, otherwise you could stab it with a knife and it would be as normal acting as it every was.)

 

[James77]

Anemones have an extremely simple nervous system-but without a brain, they cannot feel pain. They can only react to the world.

 

[gtriamy]

thank you james for stepping in on that, its actually a nueral "net". no emotions, no "pain" as humans see it(thats a whole nother topic). As for the cutting in half, i'm sure there have been anemones that had half their body's sheared off by some fish trying to eat, only to find it stinging them. if its that inhumane, then don't do it to ur corals either.

 

[MCary]

Late in the day, I may have been a little harsh.

The needless distruction of anything whether it feels pain or not, makes a statment on the person doing the destroying. Their actions can negatively effect our hobby and the wild ecosystems where our specimens are collected. It is bad.

In this case, proper propagation saves lives. I read where a clownfish is never seen in the wild without an anemone. Clownfish without anemones are suspected to all be killed by predation if they don't have that protection. So overharvesting in the wild is bad and propagation shold be encouraged right?

As for feeling pain and that whole argument. A person that goes to a Sushi bar is not evil. Lets end it there.

Mike

 

[bertoni]

Just to make my meaning clear, I wouldn't cut an anemone in half because I'd worry about losing the animal entirely.

 

[albinooscar]

WOW! There are a lot of strong opinions on this thread.

Hmmm. Let's think about this. It has already been mentioned that

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6983188#post6983188 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gtriamy
its actually a nueral "net". no emotions, no "pain" as humans see it(thats a whole nother topic)

So that being that, how many of us have squished a mosquito? Or swatted a fly dead? Stepped on a spider? Caught a fish and filleted it? Cropped a dogs ears?(or had them cropped) Or killed a bee for fear it might sting you?

All of these are more complex creatures and some definitely feel pain but we do it anyway.

So why not cut an anemone in half.

One more thing. What about those frags we buy? Don't you think it "hurts" the polyps when they frag the mother colony?

Oh well, just some food for thought for those who think that cutting an anemone in half is inhumane. Not that for or against it.

Ron

 

[piranhaking]

exactly. do those people not think that just about any coral they have in their tank has been fraged. Even hard corals have just about had to have had polyps killed in the process of attaching them to a rock. Im sure most of those people wouldnt think twice about splitting a mushroom. i dont see that it is any different. Mabey it is a little bit cruel, but not any more so than taking any animal out of its natural environment and putting it in a glass box. I also agree with the part about people killing bugs. I wonder how many of those people have had their house sprayed, or set out roach motels or fly paper............

 

[Feelers]

I can definately see why people are concerned about this : an anemone is capable of wondering around to find a suitable spot, can withdraw from conflict and all seem to have thier own "personalities". This looks pretty cruel, and many would veiw it the same way as chopping say a shrimp/fish ect.

However the idea of pain is totally subjective. By definition to feel pain you must be able to think. We feel empathy and project what it would be like for us if we were getting chopped up, in this case based on how the anemone appears to show a "personality".

If I culture a bunch of nerve cells in a test tube, noone would care at all if I chopped them up. The anemone is exactly the same.
The "pain" is sent as electrical impulses - the stronger they are the more the anemone's muscles will move away from them. Thats it, no computation - nothing.
This is pretty much how it works, slow impulse - move slowly. Fast impulse - move fast. It doesnt care whats going on, whether it's fast or slow - it just responds.

I hate the idea of cruelty, and its good that people worry about things like this - it shows that they do really care about being responsible reef keepers.

But I would have no qualms ethicially with horrifically bludgening an anemone to death, other than the same way I wouldnt smash down a tree for no apparant reason.

:grin: