back to article Study finds crayfish treated with antidepressants become more outgoing, adventurous

A study by freshwater crustacean boffins in Florida has revealed that feeding antidepressants to crayfish can make them more outgoing and adventurous — which is more or less a definition of how antidepressants are supposed to work. On humans, at least. The experiment set out to investigate how exposure to antidepressants might …

  1. lglethal Silver badge
    Coat

    A 2019 study of freshwater shrimp across 15 locations in rural Suffolk, UK, found that every single one contained traces of cocaine, with some also baked on ketamine.

    So where exactly do I need to go in Suffolk to get some cocaine covered Shrimp?

    Sounds like it could be the start of a Prawn-tastic evening...

    I'll get my coat...

    1. wolfetone Silver badge

      Suffolk

      Come for the cocaine.

      Stay for the prawns.

  2. Chairman of the Bored

    Easy solution

    Put the predators on THC. They will pass on the prawns and go for the crisps..

    1. elsergiovolador Silver badge

      Re: Easy solution

      Pure THC can rub the endocannabinoid receptors wrong way, so make sure the substance has a full spectrum of cannabinoids for the entourage effect.

  3. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge
    Coat

    Depressed crayfish

    feeding antidepressants to crayfish can make them more outgoing and adventurous

    They've probably been hearing about what happens to their cousins in the Marshall islands, no wonder they need cheering up.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Depressed crayfish

      This will probably make them easier to cook and make the people eating them happy too.

  4. hatti

    Spiny-cheeked crayfish coming over here, stealing all our streams

    1. Danny 2

      @hatti

      They really do. They come over in the bilge tanks of tankers, infest our streams and eat all of the native wildlife.

      I knew a guy who removed them from the burns of south east Scotland for study, and then dinner, who was introduced to me as "one of the world's top experts on crayfish". I asked him how many world experts on crayfish there were, and he smiled and replied, "About 200."

      Impressive. I told him I was one of the world's top ten million experts on Windows NT.

  5. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
    Coat

    I wonder ...

    Would this work on elevators sulking in basements?

    Surely these researchers are gunning for an Ig Nobel Prize. If they aren't shortlisted already, I might nominate them

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I wonder ...

      The GPP sort? Anyway the exercise probably does you good ;)

    2. TimMaher Silver badge
      Coat

      Re: I wonder ...

      I really enjoy crayfish but, a frogstar scout. Now there’s a thing!

      Can’t eat a whole one though.

  6. Danny 2

    Peterson's lobsters with post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

    I recommend crayfish, and lobsters and men, are cautious with SSRIs because the common temporary loss of libido can be permanent. And that's depressing. No doubt they are still a boon for the suicidal though.

    Jordan Peterson claimed that lobsters reaction to SSRIs explain human hierarchies, which is one of the most bizarre arguments I've ever heard. Here is a great exploration of that train (wreck) of thought: Psychologist Jordan Peterson says lobsters help to explain why human hierarchies exist – do they?

  7. skeptical i
    Pint

    Do they make good eating?

    Invasive species problem solved. Overfishing has eliminated (totally or just about) many other species, why not this one? Problem solved faster if the crawfish contain some magic woo medicinal quality (likely depends on the pharmaceutical factory near where they were fished).

    Crawfish boil is best accompanied by a tall cold ale. --->

  8. T. F. M. Reader

    Water-side vacation, here I come!

    If I believe the results reported in this article (and some of its sisters) it seems that if one bathes in a well-chosen brook or pond while on vacation one will change one's sexual orientation, become more outgoing, get rid of grey hair, and get slightly high all in one fell swoop. New normal beckons...

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