in captivity

Some students from Singapore have succeeded in cultivating lobsters , which is a major scientific breakthrough.


I find it hard to translate "in captivity" into my mother tongue because we don't say it that way. We'd say "cultivating lobster artificially," but does our version mean the same thing as "cultivating lobsters in captivity?" Thanks.

I'm not familiar with the conjugal traits of those tasty crustaceans, but "in captivity," means that the organism ini question is not "in the wild." In other words, is somehow contained.

There is nothing inherent in such a situation to prevent an animal from copulating naturally. For example, put a male dog and a female dog in oestrus in your back yard and sit back and watch. Both animals are "in captivity," but probably need no human assistance.

It IS true that some animals in zoos, i.e. "in captivity," don't breed naturally, but you can't apply that to all species of living creatures.

Thanks, sdgraham.
I presume that, based on your reply, it's not proper to translate it as "artificially."

quietdandelion said:

Thanks, sdgraham.
I presume that, based on your reply, it's not proper to translate it as "artificially."

Your presumption is correct. Linguistically, you cannot translate it that way. Breeding "artificially," means artificial insemination. It's entirely possible that lobsters in captivity are bred artificially, but that's a different issue.

If you're having trouble with "in captivity," you might use the same term as you use for animals held in zoos, for example.

Thanks again, sdgraham, for the reply.
But here we're talking about "cultivating lobsters artificially," not "breeding."

quietdandelion said:

Thanks again, sdgraham, for the reply.
But here we're talking about "cultivating lobsters artificially," not "breeding."

Sorry
Out here in farming country, we use "cultivate" in terms of producing crops. I see from WRD it has a number of meanings. What do you mean by "cultivate?"

"Cultivating" is generally only used for plants, in my experience.

"Breeding" is implied in "cultivating," presumably. One of the definitions of breeding: "propagate animals or plants."