I don't think there are a whole lot of vegetarians who oppose eating invertebrates, though a case could probably be made for the larger octopus, which is smart as fuck (and interesting as well, since its brain does the same stuff as advanced vertebrate brains do, despite being totally differently organized).
Anyway. You are right that individual choices not to eat meat do not actually diminish suffering. The animal will be dead anyway. The same argument could be made though about working at a chemical-weapons manufacturing plant. Whether I refuse to work there for ethical reasons or not, the weapons are still going to be made. I still think it's admirable not to work there.
I think refusing to eat meat for ethical reasons is quite admirable. They're better people than I.
--- On Thu, 4/16/09, John Thornton <jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> From: John Thornton <jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] good morning my fellow ecosystems
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Thursday, April 16, 2009, 4:00 PM
> Jordan Hayes wrote:
> >> Honey? Bees are animals?
> >
> > Bees are enslaved!
> >
> > http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm
>
> Not all of them are enslaved.
> One of my hives swarmed last year and about 6 pounds of
> them left.
>
> I have a little whip I use whenever their productivity
> falls too low.
> I also torture one or two every month or so just to show
> them who the boss is.
>
> I've never gotten a satisfactory answer to my question
> about whether vegetarians can eat Elysia chlorotica.
> It is a slug that gets it nourishment through
> photosynthesis so it is effectively an animal/plant hybrid.
> Since it gets its nourishment via photosynthesis like a
> plant can vegetarians eat it?
>
> John Thornton
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>