Centuries ago manatees were mistaken for mermaids, the half-woman/half-fish creature of myth and legend. The confusion may seem absurd now, but back then little was known of the sea beasts that lived in the ocean (much of the ocean is still unexplored today).
Both dugongs and manatees are part of the same taxonomic order, Sirena. The word “siren” means mermaid in many languages, a nod to the animals' history of being mistaken for mermaids.
Dugongs: the marine mammal that inspired the myth of mermaids.
A mermaid is a mythical sea-dwelling creature, often described as having the head and body of a woman and a fish's tail below the waist. Stories of mermaids have existed for thousands of years and span cultures across the world - from coastal settlements in Ireland to the landlocked Karoo desert in South Africa.
especially the ocean: Mermaids have been used to symbolize the dangers and mysteries of the ocean, with their half-fish form representing the creatures that inhabit the depths of the sea. In some cultures, mermaids are seen as messengers of the sea, warning humans of impending storms or other natural disasters.
The dugong is said to have influenced ancient mermaid legends. A lesser known cousin of the manatee, the dugong (Malay for “lady of the sea”) is said to have inspired ancient mermaid legends.
reverse mermaid (plural reverse mermaids) (cryptozoology) A mythical creature, woman from the waist down, fish from the waist up.
Kelpie. Kelpies is a rare form of Mermaid found in Scottland which can be found in a mixture of fresh and salt water. They are aquatic shapeshifters and can only look semi-human when in their mermaid form. Other than that they can transform themselves into hippo's or horses.
The sirens we think of today are a variation of mermaids, but according to Greek mythology they are half woman, half bird. Sirens are mentioned in Homer's The Odyssey. An island near Scylla and Charybdis is where the sirens lived.
In 1493, sailing off the coast of Hispaniola, Christopher Columbus spotted three sirens or mermaids (Spanish: serenas) which he said were not as beautiful as they are represented, due to some masculine features in their faces, but these are considered to be sightings of manatees.
Cecaelia is a subset of the merfolk that originated in Asian and Native American mythology, legend and folklore. They are considred merfolk with the upper body of a humanoid human and the lower body of an octopus. They are often seen as a variant of a mermaid, sea witch, or sea demon.
There's an idea floating around the web that perhaps early seafarers mistook these belugas for mermaids. But this is almost certainly a tall tale, and makes little sense (as mermaids don't have legs, and also don't exist).
The cecaelia is, in modern Internet parlance, a common term for a mermaid that has octopus limbs rather than a fish tail. Another frequently used name is "octomaid." A famous example of an octopus-limbed mermaid is Disney's sea witch Ursula.
No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.
Mermaids — those half-human, half-fish sirens of the sea — are legendary sea creatures chronicled in maritime cultures since time immemorial. The ancient Greek epic poet Homer wrote of them in The Odyssey.
Answer: Amanda could lazily float away on a lazy emerald sea if she were a mermaid. She imagined herself as the only person living in the green sea, slowly moving across it. She yearns for a location where she can be by herself and not rely on anyone else to make her happy.
A mermaid is an aquatic creature that has the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish, instead of legs. In legends, mermaids are depicted as beautiful women, known for their enchanting song.
a seductively beautiful or charming woman, especially one who beguiles men: a siren of the silver screen.
Sometimes a Siren will fall in love with a human. However, the land and sea are two different worlds. Tales of mermaids who tried to overcome this great divide usually end in sadness and heartbreak. Known examples are Princess Thetis, Pania of the Reef and Nympha.
Originally, sirens were shown as male or female, but the male siren disappeared from art around the fifth century BC.
Mélusine (French: [melyzin]) or Melusina is a figure of European folklore, a female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down (much like a lamia or a mermaid). She is also sometimes illustrated with wings, two tails, or both.
In the Middle East, the first stories where Mermaids appeared are found in Assyria in the year 1000 BC where Atargatis, a Syrian goddess who ruled the seas, was consecrated and worshiped with fish in temples full of large ponds.
Hybrids are a crossbreed of two distinct species, merfolk and humans. They live in isolation, in fear of their mixed bloodline being discovered by humans.
A half-merpeople is the offspring of humans and Merpeople.
Yes, you read that correctly. Apparently in Greek Mythology a “mermaid” with two tails is actually called a siren. A what? A siren.