This footage of sushi twitching on a plate has seriously creeped people out
Poor little fella.
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Footage of some clam sushi twitching on a man's plate has recently gone viral on Twitter, prompting the question whether it is in fact still alive.
スシローの悲劇 pic.twitter.com/DDLhXuuP0l
— ブッチー (@shoumizo3446) February 11, 2018
People were predictably unnerved by the restless mollusc.
After eating this... pic.twitter.com/sEh4djByBn
— Hil (@hilhusaini) February 15, 2018
Oh shit it is pic.twitter.com/5WFIDbTMUb
— Bri (@possessed_apple) February 16, 2018
It’s all fun and games until that thing burrows into your brain
— Nick Stearns (@NStearns93) February 15, 2018
— J.Abstract (@ItsJuzJordan) February 15, 2018
Mashable asked marine biologist Callum Roberts whether the clam was in fact still alive, or just showing signs that could be misinterpreted as life.
"Clams have very simple nervous systems, and rather than a brain have three sets of paired ganglia distributed through the body, which coordinate the activities of the animal," he said. "Clearly, in this case, some of these are still intact and functional."
So for a given definition of "life" in organisms so vastly different from ourselves, this clam is very much still alive.
Before you get too grossed out or indignant, remember that consuming live seafood is not that uncommon a phenomenon: oysters are eaten alive all over the world, slurped right out of the shell. Roberts told us that in preparing clams for sushi the animals are "generally just scooped out of the shell."
Rest in peace little clam.