Animal category: Invertebrates

Evaluating the Impact of Electrical Stunning on the Welfare and Meat Quality of the American Lobster (Homarus americanus)

Lorenzo RA, Llonch P, González J, García del Arco JA, Font-i-Furnols M, Rotllant G.

Published in 2026

Study that tested the "Crustastun" electrical stunning technique on lobsters. The technique is reversible but induces physiological stress responses, without significantly affecting the overall quality of the meat.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Invertebrates

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Aquaculture – Certification Schemes – BENCHMARK

Aquatic Life Institute

Published in 2026

Publication by the Aquatic Life Institute of the 2026 edition of its benchmark report on the integration of animal welfare into global aquaculture certification programs. The benchmarking tool is intended to strengthen and embed requirements for the welfare of aquatic animals in certification standards and supply chains.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal Categories: Invertebrates, Fish

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Health and Welfare Monitoring in Whiteleg Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) Aquaculture

Paolo Gamberoni, Matthew James Slater, David Bierbach, Mirko Bögner, Sven Wuertz

Published in 2026

Manual presenting morphological indicators for shrimp welfare, particularly stress-related lesions, along with observation procedures for the use of aquaculture professionals.

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Invertebrates

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Decapod Crustaceans in Animal Welfare Law: Fragmentation, Gaps, and Emerging Models in Europe and Oceania

Fruscella L, Sicuso DA, Vitale D, Passantino A.

Published in 2026

Scientific review, highlighting the misalignment between current scientific evidence on the vulnerability of decapod crustaceans and the limited legal protection they receive, advocating for a harmonized regulatory framework based on the science.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Invertebrates

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Decapod Crustaceans in Animal Welfare Law: Fragmentation, Gaps, and Emerging Models in Europe and Oceania

Lorenzo Fruscella, Diego Antonio Sicuso, Daria Vitale, Annamaria Passantino

Published in 2026

Article highlighting the gap between scientific evidence on the sentience of decapod crustaceans and the limited legal protections they enjoy. The authors advocate for harmonized regulations based on scientific knowledge.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Invertebrates

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Octopus bimaculoides can learn to utilize a mirror to localize a reward outside the line of sight

Mary Kieseler, Marvin R. Maechler, Kelly R. Finn, Carl Harris, Jay Michael Vincelli, Zachary Hoffman, Navneet Dhanoa, Jean Fang, Scott Gies, James McHugh, Julia Valenti, Mira Ram, John O. Fitzgerald, Madison Augusto, David Edelman, Peter U. Tse

Published in 2026

A scientific article showing that octopuses are capable of locating prey that is hidden from their direct view but reflected in a mirror, and of navigating toward these visually hidden locations that are spatially aligned with the location of the reflected prey. These findings extend the ability to use mirrors to invertebrates, demonstrating that cephalopods can use mirror reflections for spatial navigation.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Invertebrates

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Flexible self-protection as evidence of pain-like states in house crickets

Manzi, O., Lynch, K. E., Allman, D. M., Latty, T., White, T. E.

Published in 2026

Scientific article examining the behavioral responses of the house cricket when exposed to a noxious stimulus (heat applied to an antenna), an innocuous stimulus (tactile contact with an antenna), or no stimulus at all, under lower- or higher-stress environmental conditions. Grooming behavior was more frequent and lasted longer in response to a painful stimulus than under the other treatments. These results support the existence of flexible and site-directed self-protection mechanisms in Orthoptera, providing evidence for the existence of pain-like states in Orthoptera.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Invertebrates

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Towards Bioethical and Functional Standards in the Slaughter Methods of Edible Insects: A Narrative Review

Sánchez-Velázquez, O.A., Hernández-Álvarez, A.J.

Published in 2026

Review highlighting that the methods used to slaughter insects intended for human consumption affect both their potential welfare and the nutritional quality of the products, but that current knowledge and standards remain very limited.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Invertebrates

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Applying the five domains to the welfare of farmed black soldier flies, house flies, and yellow mealworms

Samuel Olutunde Durosaro, Meghan Barrett

Published in 2025

A study examining the current state of knowledge regarding the welfare of three insects raised for human and animal consumption (black soldier flies, houseflies, and yellow mealworms) based on the five-domain framework (nutrition, physical health, environment, behavior, and mental state).

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Invertebrates

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Do Insects Feel Pain? How Insect Nervous Systems Reveal Hidden Suffering

Renz Soliman

Published in 2026

Summary of recent research showing that some insects have neural mechanisms that enable them to experience pain, including chronic pain. These findings call into question their treatment in research, farming and wider pest control.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Invertebrates

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