If you’ve ever eaten lobster, it’s supposed to be alive when you drop it into the boiling water.
Same with steamed crabs. Having grown up in Maryland I know it is a cardinal sin (and a health hazard) to put a dead crab in the steamer, any dead crabs are thrown out. This also applies to clams, mussels, scallops and oysters.
http://www.penncoveshellfish.com/Products/sf_care.html
I love raw oysters BTW. And yes, while they are not wriggling around, they are alive when you eat them.
Years ago on the Rush Limbaugh TV show a chef cut up a live lobster & threw the still writhing parts into a skillet. Katie Couric wanted Rush prosecuted for airing animal cruelty.
A marine biologist later stated that a crustacean’s nervous system lacks the ability to perceive pain. Oh, well.