Mermaids

In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

creatures half bird and half woman who lured sailors by the sweetness of her song

Oceanid of Greek mythology

Atargatis (known as Derceto by the Greeks) was the chief goddess of northern Syria in Classical antiquity. Primarily she was a fertility goddess, but, as the baalat ("mistress") of her city and people she was also responsible for their protection and well-being. Her chief sanctuary was at Hierapolis, modern Manbij, northeast of Aleppo, Syria.

thumb|upright|Sirenomelia Sirenomelia, also called mermaid syndrome, is a rare congenital deformity in which the legs are fused together, giving the appearance of a mermaid's tail, hence the nickname.

pagan water spirit

modified fish carcass to resemble fictional creature

mermaid of Polish folklore

fake mummified body of a half-mammal half-fish

Suvannamaccha (; ; , ALA-LC: Suvaṇṇmacchā; , ; literally "golden fish") is a daughter of Ravana (Thotsakan) appearing in the Thailand and other Southeast Asian versions of Ramayana. She is a mermaid princess who tries to spoil Hanuman's plans to build a bridge to Lanka but falls in love with him instead.

thumb|Japanese mermaid (ningyo). Coiffed with nihongami hairstyle of the Edo Period. , is a creature with both human and fish-like features, described in various pieces of Japanese literature.

figure from Brazilian mythology

Abere is a demoness from Melanesian mythology. She is portrayed as a "wild" woman with young female servants. She is said to reside in marshes. She draws people to her by her beauty, entrapping them by causing reeds to grow around them. Once they are trapped, she proceeds to devour her victims.

A jengu (pl. miengu, also called bisima) is a water spirit in the traditional beliefs of the Sawabantu groups of Cameroon, like the Duala, Bakweri, Malimba, Subu, Bakoko, and Oroko people. Among the Bakweri, the term used is liengu (plural: maengu). Miengu are similar to bisimbi (singular: simbi) in the Bakongo spirituality and Mamba Muntu, who is present in many West and Central African cultures.

A Simbi (also spelled Cymbee and '''Sim'bi, pl. Bisimbi or Basimbi''') is a Central African guardian spirit of the water and nature in traditional Bakongo religion, as well as in African diaspora spiritual traditions, such as Hoodoo in the southern United States and Palo in Cuba. Simbi have been historically identified as water people, or mermaids, pottery, snakes, gourds, and fire. Due to the forced removal of Bantu peoples from Africa to the Americas, the veneration of simbi exists today in countries, such as the United States, Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti.

thumb|Sadko (painting)|Sadko by [[Ilya Repin]] In Russian folklore, Chernava (diminutive: Chernavushka; ) is Sea Tsar's daughter (or, according to some versions, a niece), spirit and personification of the river of the same name. She is a mermaid. Her head and upper body are human, while the lower body is a fish's tail. Chernava is famed from her appearance in the epic of Sadko.

Bunzi (also Mpulu Bunzi and Phulu Bunzi) is a serpent water spirit and goddess of rain in traditional Kongo religion that was first venerated by the Woyo people of the Kingdom of Ngoyo.

thumb|300px|''Gradlon's flight'' by Évariste Vital Luminais