when Crook damaged one of the squid’s fins, the nociceptors on the opposite fin were just as excitable as those on the wounded side. Imagine if your entire body became delicate to the touch whenever you stubbed your toe: That’s a squid’s reality. “When they’re injured, their whole body becomes hypersensitive,” Crook tells me. “They go from being normal to this potential world of pain.” This might explain why they don’t groom their wounds. They can sense that they’ve been hurt, but they might not be able to tell where.
