interesting facts about merfolk!

[Nemefish]

i thought it bee interesting if a forum was started about interesting merpeople facts, so if you know any interesting stuff about mers or even obvious facts about us mers for the purpose of 1.conversation and 2.education for anyone new to merfolk and the realm of mers :D

ill get something started: most people believe that mermaids originated in Greek and Roman cultures, but they actually started in Assyria, ca. 1000 BC. this place was an ancient region north of what we know now as Iraq. They have the earliest know mermaid stories.

so does anyone know any other cool mer facts :p

[Gem Stone]

many people (around my town anyway) have started depicting mers without flukes. so it ends up looking like a tentacle than a tail. my friend drew me a picture of this and when i get around to adding my pics i'll post it. its actually pretty cool looking.

[Alveric]

When it comes to Mers, 'facts' is rather a flexible term. Can we include stuff we (writers mostly) have just made up? :cool:

[Gem Stone]

i should think so

[MermaidRaegan]

Haha, I've seen a mermaid kinda like that with an eel tail. It was pretty cool lookin'.

[Siren of the Sea]

Question: (I hope this fits in this topic) Do you all think mermaids are born like mammals, or hatch from eggs?

[Mermaid Dottie]

Well, I'm a mammal. I have to be.... or else the ultrasounds have been wrong and there's a million little merbabies swimming in my stomach.... which is a weird idea.
Which is why I'm sticking with mammal.

[Prince Calypso]

well since we can go with things we just made up as writers
mermaids have hypnotic power but not in their voices like most people think
a mermaid real power to enthrall and hypnotize comes from her eyes.
the voice, while enchantingly, eerily, mesmerizingly beautiful is only the lure.
the eyes are the hook.
lock eyes with a mermaid and your done for man

or so i have it in my stories

[Siren of the Sea]

Cool Calypso. :)

Mermaids can sometimes, if they have part human in them, get legs whenever they are on dry land for too long, but the side effects are very rough and can sometimes be fatal. They include shortness of breathe, usually severe dizziness, very dry skin, nausea and vomiting. The more human blood in a mer the more likely he or she will survive the transition/

[malinghi]

I remember somewhere reading a bunch of humorous made up facts about merpeople. The only one I remember is that it claimed their favorite sport is Jai Alai.

[Ayla of Duluth]

Fact: only 5% of the ocean has been discovered. That means mermaids have a 95% chance of actually existing.

[Mermaid Rillia]

I would say those are pretty good odds WaterWolf. As for the whole mammal/egg thing, I'm going to go with mammal. I mean they are technically half human right? However..

I present the question: Do merfolk breathe underwater (possibly with some sort of gill system) or do they just hold their breath for an insane amount of time?
I always imagined a type of filtration or gill system in the lungs. Although I dont know how the water would be exhaled out of the body... hmmm.

[Gem Stone]

i like prince calypso's fact about the eyes. i never thought about that, i like it.
^i got a book from weeki wachee that gives an idea dor this. mermaids can hold their breaths for really long times, but they have also found underwater caves with fresh air to breathe with.

[BlueMermaid]

When I'm working, I tell the kids that mermaids are mammals and breath air, just like dolphins and whales.

[Nemefish]

When it comes to Mers, 'facts' is rather a flexible term. Can we include stuff we (writers mostly) have just made up? :cool:

any kind of fun ides about merfolk and made up facts and myths all over from history or from recent stories or your own mind. whatever makes people think and be curiously entertained :3

[Nemefish]

When I'm working, I tell the kids that mermaids are mammals and breath air, just like dolphins and whales.

i think (based on theory of evolution but in mythological form) that a mermaid can be a mammal or a fish, just like some species separated form the main organism to change into a whole new breed and type of animal. ex an alligator and a fish are belief to have been related due to similarities, but then again that's just something i heard from a friend who was smart in biology :3

or if we want to go wild we can make mermaids both mammals and fish because they were created by the goods ( basing on mythologies and folklore :D) and therefore they have baby eggs in the womb and that hatch and are born fully developed as a baby mers much like a shark..... wow i wrote a freaking essay hahaha sorry :P

[Nemefish]

i like prince calypso's fact about the eyes. i never thought about that, i like it.
^i got a book from weeki wachee that gives an idea dor this. mermaids can hold their breaths for really long times, but they have also found underwater caves with fresh air to breathe with.

u know ive heard about that and ever sinece then ive alwas have wanted to find one of those caves haha :)

[Nemefish]

well since we can go with things we just made up as writers
mermaids have hypnotic power but not in their voices like most people think
a mermaid real power to enthrall and hypnotize comes from her eyes.
the voice, while enchantingly, eerily, mesmerizingly beautiful is only the lure.
the eyes are the hook.
lock eyes with a mermaid and your done for man

or so i have it in my stories

thats so true, ive read about mermaid eyes being the key to the hypnotizing effects somewhere in old Greek or Japanese folklore.

[Alveric]

The Mers in most of my stories have both gills and lungs. In air, the lungs operate like normal humans. The gill slits, located on the rib cage are closed and almost invisible. When a Mer goes underwater, there are some automatic changes.

The lungs collapse rapidly expelling air from the nose and mouth.
A one-way valve hidden in the throat activates. It allows water to flow in from the mouth and nose but not out.
The gill-slits open and the gills expand into the chest cavity.
Water in inhaled through mouth and nose, exhaled through gill-slits.

Out of water, all this reverses. Water is expelled through gill slits, lungs expand and fill, valve deactivates.

All this happens so quickly that it is hardly noticed by the Mer.

What do you think? Is this plausible?

[Mermaid Dottie]

I really like that one, Alveric. I vote for that.

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

One story in the anthology Water: Tales of the Elemental Spirits featured mermaids who don't sing, but hum with incredible beauty... because humming can project through their entire bodies, resonating through the water, while singing underwater is unlikely and there are only so many reasons for mermaids to appear on the rocks.

[Prince Calypso]

I would say those are pretty good odds WaterWolf. As for the whole mammal/egg thing, I'm going to go with mammal. I mean they are technically half human right? However..

I present the question: Do merfolk breathe underwater (possibly with some sort of gill system) or do they just hold their breath for an insane amount of time?
I always imagined a type of filtration or gill system in the lungs. Although I dont know how the water would be exhaled out of the body... hmmm.

well i go with the idea that they have a type of gill system or else there would have been and still would be a lot of mermaid sighting
casue if they hold their breath they would be coming up for air at some point
the mermaids in my books have both kills and lungs with to sets of gils. a pair on either side of the neck and another pair along the ribs
when they surface the water in the lungs is pushed out through the neck gills if they are still half submerged and if they are fully out of the water then water is evacuated completely from the body by the gills along the ribs

also in my books mermaids aren't really fish, they are a marine creature that mimics fish, my mermaids are amphibious









i aslo only half agree with the mammal point of view i think that mermaids are a marine mammal with fish like traits.

[Ayla of Duluth]

Maybe mermaids are abyssal creatures and they live in places like the Marianna trench. Their bodies are adjusted to the pressure down there which is why they rarely surface.

[Mermaid Rillia]

Maybe before when there were lots of mermaid sightings, mermaids did have to hold their breath and come up for air. But since mermaid sighting have ultimately decreased there might be the poosibility of adapting? Posiibliy they evolved and obtained gills in some way. Maybe I'm just rambling nonsense. But i think if a t-rex can evolve and become a chicken, anything is possible.

[MermaidRaegan]

I could see them evolving to live in greater depths, though I think it would be working backwards in the evolutionary handbook to develop lungs and then re-develope gills. But I'm no biologist, so if it worked for the betterment of the species then maybe they could re-evolve gills. I like Alveric's idea, personally. Also, I've always thought of mermaids as having mammal like repoductive systems, since I saw an anatomy drawing of a mermaid that include a humanesque reproductive system.

[Mermaid Dottie]

Anybody support the (POTC 4) idea of certain species of mer kidnapping sailors to do the rough and tumble with, then getting rid of them later? Sounds very amazonial to me....

Edit: OMG what if in POTC it's like this with the mermaids? 0.o
2553 (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/angler) Also, here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglerfish) is where they learned that uncomfortable info...

[Nemefish]

Anybody support the (POTC 4) idea of certain species of mer kidnapping sailors to do the rough and tumble with, then getting rid of them later? Sounds very amazonial to me....

Edit: OMG what if in POTC it's like this with the mermaids? 0.o
2553 (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/angler) Also, here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglerfish) is where they learned that uncomfortable info...


yes i agree with that, in fact there are stories out there of mermaids doing this to sailors so yep ur right on it :P

[Nemefish]

what do you guys think about different personalities for mers than the usual stereotypical either girly, dreamy, sentimental mermaid, or the malicious, dangerous, and gruesomely cunning mermaids, and the stereotypical brave,strong, bold, and territorial merman. can there be other personalities just like humans have? why cant a mermaid be nerdy, shy, introverted, smart, and cautious of her surroundings, and why cant a merman be romantic, and and sentimental, and timid, and a total goof? i think there are different personalities? what do you guys think, and how would those personalities develop based and the developmental ideal of nature vs. nurture, or better said nature + nurture. :D
ps. i support MASO: Merfolks Against Stereotyping Organization :3 tee-he25542554

[Nemefish]

what do you guys think about different personalities for mers than the usual stereotypical either girly, dreamy, sentimental mermaid, or the malicious, dangerous, and gruesomely cunning mermaids, and the stereotypical brave,strong, bold, and territorial merman. can there be other personalities just like humans have? why cant a mermaid be nerdy, shy, introverted, smart, and cautious of her surroundings, and why cant a merman be romantic, and and sentimental, and timid, and a total goof? i think there are different personalities? what do you guys think, and how would those personalities develop based and the developmental ideal of nature vs. nurture, or better said nature + nurture. :D
ps. i support MASO: Merfolks Against Stereotyping Organization :3 tee-he25542554

[Nemefish]

holy crap it posted itself more than one time 0_o.... sorry....

[Ayla of Duluth]

I view mermaids as wise, smart, patient, loving, and hospitable. Kinda like you see in movies featuring other cultures, like in ireland where the women are strong and independent. They'll take strangers into their home and care for them until they're well enough to be on their way.
i haven't given that much thought to the idea of mermen though. I'll work on that. xD

[malinghi]

Fact: only 5% of the ocean has been discovered. That means mermaids have a 95% chance of actually existing.

This is a misconception. The likelihood of mermaids existing is not simply equal to whatever fraction of the ocean is unexplored. By this reasoning the fact that none of Europa's ocean has been explored means that we are already certain that mermaids live there.

[Nemefish]

I view mermaids as wise, smart, patient, loving, and hospitable. Kinda like you see in movies featuring other cultures, like in ireland where the women are strong and independent. They'll take strangers into their home and care for them until they're well enough to be on their way.
i haven't given that much thought to the idea of mermen though. I'll work on that. xD

i like that type of personality :3

[Mermaid Rillia]

This is a misconception. The likelihood of mermaids existing is not simply equal to whatever fraction of the ocean is unexplored. By this reasoning the fact that none of Europa's ocean has been explored means that we are already certain that mermaids live there.

I would say that if I lived in the ocean, thats the first place i would go if I didnt want to be discovered. :)
However You do create a wise point. Just because the parts of the ocen are unexplored doesnt mean there are thousands of merfolk that inhabit that area.

[malinghi]

Holy shit, that angler fish thing... I'd heard that and forgotten about it. Nature can be really freaking gross.

[Ayla of Duluth]

This is a misconception. The likelihood of mermaids existing is not simply equal to whatever fraction of the ocean is unexplored. By this reasoning the fact that none of Europa's ocean has been explored means that we are already certain that mermaids live there.
Lol I know. But they likely could exist, I mean if we haven't explored a place, how do we know they don't? My way of thinking is the more ocean we explore, the lower the chances of them existing are. The less we've explored, the more likely it is. Ergo, they have a 95% chance of existing now, and as we explore more of the ocean, the more places we know they don't exist. In a body of water that hasn't been explored, they have a 100% chance of existing. The idea of chance is that it's a possibility, not set in stone. So I'm not saying they do exist, I'm just not ruling out that they don't. :) my brain works in strange ways. I can do geometry but I couldn't do algebra to save my life.

[malinghi]

Lol I know. But they likely could exist, I mean if we haven't explored a place, how do we know they don't? My way of thinking is the more ocean we explore, the lower the chances of them existing are. The less we've explored, the more likely it is. Ergo, they have a 95% chance of existing now, and as we explore more of the ocean, the more places we know they don't exist. In a body of water that hasn't been explored, they have a 100% chance of existing. The idea of chance is that it's a possibility, not set in stone. So I'm not saying they do exist, I'm just not ruling out that they don't. :) my brain works in strange ways. I can do geometry but I couldn't do algebra to save my life.

Strictly speaking, this assessment of probability is incorrect. While everyone is welcome to believe in mermaids as an opinion, the claim that probability supports their existence is not true.

[Prince Calypso]

personally i believe they exist. i don't think they are too smart to expose themselves to us all that often.
how did aquamarine say it ?
"we aren'y fantasy, we're just discreet."
personally we've all seen ET i'm sure and i'm sure that the human world was to ever find out mythical creatures exist (if they don't already know that is)
that it would en up being just like that.
even if we explore all f the ocean and the sea doesn't me we will find mermaid if they don't wan to be found
honestly i don' t think it would be that hard for mermaids to live a secret life on beaches and small islands without the people around them knowing even the slightest bit what they are

[Bellasea]

Going back to Mermaid Brooke's question an how mermaid breathe. I always assumed that they breathed like some species of frogs. Frogs have a fully deveolped lungs, yet they can breathe underwater. This can happen because with some frogs gas exchange occurs direclty through the skin or inside the mouth. If this is the way with memaids then there would be no need for them to inhale or exhale while underwater. If gas exchange occurd through in the mouth then they would only need to open there mouth to breathe. This website brielfy explains how some frogs breathe: http://www.thefrog.org/biology/breathing/breathing.htm

(I hope my rambling made sense :))

[Prince Calypso]

Going back to Mermaid Brooke's question an how mermaid breathe. I always assumed that they breathed like some species of frogs. Frogs have a fully deveolped lungs, yet they can breathe underwater. This can happen because with some frogs gas exchange occurs direclty through the skin or inside the mouth. If this is the way with memaids then there would be no need for them to inhale or exhale while underwater. If gas exchange occurd through in the mouth then they would only need to open there mouth to breathe. This website brielfy explains how some frogs breathe: http://www.thefrog.org/biology/breathing/breathing.htm

(I hope my rambling made sense :))

actually i really like this idea. it kinda supports my mermaids are amphibious theory

[MermaidRaegan]

That would actually be really cool! It would also account for how so many mermaids are shown sticking their heads out of water or sitting gracefully on rocks instead of flopping around gasping like a fish out of water.

[Prince Calypso]

agreed Raegan

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Ok, I can't resist anymore... it really should be "Interesting fact about Merfolk" not "Merfolks"... folk is already considered a plural term and never gains an S at the end of it.

[Nemefish]

Ok, I can't resist anymore... it really should be "Interesting fact about Merfolk" not "Merfolks"... folk is already considered a plural term and never gains an S at the end of it.

oh..... I just noticed.. thanks 0_o

[Nemefish]

oh..... I just noticed.. thanks 0_o

arrrgh WHERE DO I EDIT!

*sighs* - _- .....

[Mermaid Dottie]

I know, right. I tried to edit my thread title the other day, and couldn't figure it out.....

[Nemefish]

I know, right. I tried to edit my thread title the other day, and couldn't figure it out.....
you know i figured it out dottie :D one does not actually edit it, you have to contact mernetwork on the forum bars on the top.... the contact mernetwork is somewhere on there :)

they fixed it for me :P

[Nyrunie]

Wow this thread was a really good idea. When it comes to breathing I always thought that they had a gill set behind each ear that angles back down the neck, that's why you usually don't see them in pictures. But I really love Bellasea's idea of their breathing process being similar to frogs. It'd make more sense. And um hi there everyone! (I'm new >.>)

[Nemefish]

oh hello Nyrunie welcome to the community :D thanks for comment about the thread :) im glad you found satisfying info to ease your questions :3

[midwesternmermaid]

Certain huge clams make merfolk instead of pearls. The clams are closely guarded and slowly open as the merbady is ready to be "born." It's especially entertaining when several clams release their babies at once.

I have a mermaid story in the works. Once I'm in a position to post weekly installments, I'll have to post them on the forum or my wall somewhere.

[Fortuna]

I'd say they are mammals but they still hatch from eggs. Like a platypus :D

[Fortuna]

Fact: only 5% of the ocean has been discovered. That means mermaids have a 95% chance of actually existing.

That would be so awesome^^ and actually it's not that unlikely. And with a little imagination they can be just as real as you and me :D

[Fortuna]

Lol I know. But they likely could exist, I mean if we haven't explored a place, how do we know they don't? My way of thinking is the more ocean we explore, the lower the chances of them existing are. The less we've explored, the more likely it is. Ergo, they have a 95% chance of existing now, and as we explore more of the ocean, the more places we know they don't exist. In a body of water that hasn't been explored, they have a 100% chance of existing. The idea of chance is that it's a possibility, not set in stone. So I'm not saying they do exist, I'm just not ruling out that they don't. :) my brain works in strange ways. I can do geometry but I couldn't do algebra to save my life.

I'd say it's not just the amount of unexplored waters that defines the likehood of mermaids. I mean even tho much of the rainforest is still not discovered that doesn't mean that there are small alive computers running around there :P But I do my best to come up with scientific explanations for everything about them :) Soon there will only be the part of actually finding one left ^^

[deepblue]

I always think of them breathing underwater- gills in the lungs like the Man from Atlantis or perhaps with gills located at the sides of the neck, behind the ears, and they disappear from view when out of water. Their lungs are adaptable and can breathe out of water, just not as well.

I can't buy the idea of mers being a creature of the deep and the surface- the majority of creatures who make deep sea their home, when they surface do not do well, unless you're a sperm whale and have adapted to that in the most incredible ways. But the deepest dwelling squid won't last if they are pulled to the surface, same goes with ceolocanths and frilled sharks (my favorite shark)- both so rarely seen because they're of the deep, and when they're seen at the surface it's because they're dying. And while mermyth is all fantasy, it still has to have some plausibility to work in my mind. Otherwise I don't really hold onto it. (I know, I know, I can buy the idea of a mermaid, but not if everything around it makes no sense. lol)

[Mermaid Narina]

i know this is an awkward question, but how do you think mermaids reproduce? I mean, they dont exactly have any (that i can see) genitals... so? The angler fish idea seems a bit freaky, and i cant imagine a guy biting onto a mermaid while his organs deteriorate o.O
i know its weird to ask, but i have been wondering fovever

[Azurin Luna]

I've always thought they did it like dolphins or maybe shards did, or perhaps as snakes.

[Mermaid Aurora]

I think they reproduce the way that Betta fish do. they give off a 'scent' and the male and female swim around eachother, and the male wraps his body around the female, and squeezes out the eggs, and then fertilizes them. I feel like sex wouldn't be for pleasure, just babies. idk. makes it sound really animalistic but idk! that's how I imagine it.

[Alveric]

My notions about sex are much too romantic to accept that. I would say that it would be much the same for Merfolk as it is for dolphins. Also, I feel they would give live birth. It's easier to take care of young that can swim with you than lugging an egg around in the open sea. Especially for a species that usually has only one offspring at a time.

[Mermaid Aurora]

I feel you! That would be if they had eggs, though. I like the idea of live birth! lil mer-babies, what's not to love?(:

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Generally, evolution works on an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule, combined with a "hey, that actually works!" response to mutations, followed by letting the results of natural selection (or human selection) do their work to determine whether those changes become prevalent or die out. I don't think any vertebrates that emerged from the sea in the distant past have ever gained gills once they returned to the water, although their lungs have adapted to be better suited. So if merfolk are a product of evolution and not gods or magic or super science or genetic engineering, it is more likely that they were fish that somehow developed humanoid torsos, faces, and arms in order to mimic humans for some reason that better enables them to survive, rather than sharing a common ancestor with humans and returning to the sea. There are fish (Mudskippers and lungfish are good examples, though some catfish and other sea life show a remarkable ability to stay alive and even move on land for extended periods of time) that do seem to have the ability to breathe air.

Frankly, though, I think it is easier and less headache-inducing for everyone to just say "merfolk look like and can do what they do because it's magic," but that's less fun than working out all the little details.

In the Blood-Dimmed Tides book by White Wolf, merfolk are a kind of changeling (in that setting, defined as dream/fairy spirits that have survived in the modern world by taking human form, though only to the eyes of humans, while other changelings can see their true appearance, which they assume when away from humanity or in the otherworldly realm of the Dreaming), and appear as humans to normal humans, have a severe weakness to human disbelief (such that even unknowing proximity to humans while submerged can cause merfolk to lose their ability to survive underwater and drown). Merfolk go through three life stages: they are born as "Nereids"... gray skinned, fish-eyed babies with webbed fingers and toes. Nereids are exceptional swimmers, but lack gills, however, the milk of mermaids (which they produce throughout their lives once they reach maturity) enables anyone who drinks it to breathe underwater for at least day (as well as enabling humans to perceive the true forms of changelings and other aspects of the Dreaming, granting resistance to deep sea pressure, adapting the eyes to see clearly underwater and preventing the skin from pruning), which means that even if an expectant mer-mother gives birth out in the middle of the ocean, she can ensure that her children can breathe via nursing. The second stage depends on the merging of a nereid with an "apsara," a sort of dream-spirit sea-animal, dependent on their personality. This ritual transforms the nereid into a Nixe, though (if the animal is a vertebrate) males are often referred to as "tritons" and females as "mermaids", or, if they should merge with an invertebrate, they are referred to as "nucks" (whose skin is often transparent) and "sirens" (who are beautiful but deadly), and are more properly considered murdhuacha, not merfolk. This stage is when they are most energetic and most attractive. Once they reach the third stage, they become Naugs, and their hair becomes white and flowing... this is also when they are strongest, their bodies honed by years of swimming with and against the currents. Merfolk Naugs are respected leaders and members of the community, while Murdhuacha naugs are particularly savage and sometimes even driven out by other murdhuacha... or eaten. It should be noted that merfolk bear live young, but murdhuacha lay eggs on the drowned corpse of some creature... though the nereids produced by each are identical to each other and can become one or the other.

I though that description was a bit harsh on the invertebrate animals, but it is from a setting called The World of Darkness, so I probably shouldn't have been expecting rainbows and butterflies. Still, it had some really interesting ideas.

I have a question, though... what sort of "superpowers" or "magic" are merfolk capable of in most of the stories you guys and gals enjoy? I've heard everything from shapeshifting and psychic abilities to musical and elemental (particularly water, air, and weather) powers to necromancy and wish-granting and control of/communication with sea animals.

[babsannee]

I'm with Alveric. I saw it more as a dolphin/whale thing.

[malinghi]

My notions about sex are much too romantic to accept that. I would say that it would be much the same for Merfolk as it is for dolphins. Also, I feel they would give live birth. It's easier to take care of young that can swim with you than lugging an egg around in the open sea. Especially for a species that usually has only one offspring at a time.


I'm with Alveric. I saw it more as a dolphin/whale thing.

Yeah, I'm definitely in this camp.

[Merman Dan]

When it comes to breathing I always thought that they had a gill set behind each ear that angles back down the neck, that's why you usually don't see them in pictures. But I really love Bellasea's idea of their breathing process being similar to frogs.
You mean they don’t exhale through their bellybuttons? ;)



Certain huge clams make merfolk instead of pearls.
Ever seen the Pearl of Lao Tzu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_of_lao_tzu) ?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Pearlofallahsm.jpg/215px-Pearlofallahsm.jpg

[Mermaid Summer]

I am curious about the mutation and merfolk, could there be a albino mermaid? What about deep sea mermaid, would they light up?

[Lyna]

but they actually started in Assyria, ca. 1000 BC.

technically...mermaids started around 30,000 b.c. while there was obviously no WRITTEN stories...there were cave drawings of half fish half people discovered from the earliest times of "recorded" history....via rock walls :)

[Prince Calypso]

i know this is an awkward question, but how do you think mermaids reproduce? I mean, they dont exactly have any (that i can see) genitals... so? The angler fish idea seems a bit freaky, and i cant imagine a guy biting onto a mermaid while his organs deteriorate o.O
i know its weird to ask, but i have been wondering fovever

In my Stories and in my own personal beliefs mermaid mate and reproduce just like mammals, through lots of underwater sexy time lol
their pregnancies are about the same length as a human pregnancy at which point they lay an egg like thing with the fully developed mermaid inside who a day later east his way their way through the egg membrane.

also in my story and my personal view of them, my mermaids come in three genders.
Female
Male
and Hermaphrodite/ inter-sexual
the last of which look almost completely similar to their female counter parts save that they lack breast and have slightly more masculine features.

[Bellasea]

How would it be possible to have both a working set of lungs and gills? Because both need different kinds if hearts. Organisms with lungshave four valve hearts, while fish have two valves. this just information that I have come up worth through my own (very little/limited) research. So please correct me if I an wrong. I think newts have both lungs and gills though, but I was looking at a picture if a young newt, so it could just be that lungs had not yet devoloped.

But, mermaids could havegills and a specialy designed swim blAdder, like lungfish. Lungfish have two swim bkadders, which are lined with blood vessels that allow gas exchange. So they despite water and full both bkadders, that way they can "breathe" underwater.

Other fish have gills and folds of skin in the back of the mouth that are rich in blood vessels, si they can gulp air and breathe.

On reproduction: I like two think of it like dolphins/whales, but while just looking up some shark info, I read that some sharks have eggs that devolpe inside the body and then give bret to fully formed shark babies. I also really like the idea of amphibious mermaids. I like the idea of laying eggs that hatch to fully undeewater a organisms that as they age devolpe into amphibious orgasims.

Random fact! :D The male mountain dusky salamander bites the female to inject her with a chemical that s timulates her to accept for mating.

[Ayla of Duluth]

For the gills thing...maybe a mermaids organs are able to tell what substance they're breathing. When they're breathing air, the gills lay dormant and the heart uses 4 valves. But when they go underwater, the lungs go dormant, and the heart stops using two valves. I don't think it would be that complicated for the body to achieve. The issue might be do they need to keep their gills moist when out of water? I really like to think mermaids could have both gills and lungs, after all, they are both man and fish. They already defied gods law with that feat. ;)

[Bellasea]

Going with what Ayla said, to keep the gills moist, the operculum (gill covering) could stay shut and the body secretes a mucus that would keep the gills moist under the operculum.

[Bellasea]

I have a question about a mer's skin. Human skin can't stay in saltwater for long periods of time without the salt eating away at the skin, creating ulcers. so how would a mer go about avoiding that from happening?

Also, some salamanders have both lungs and gills, but they have a three valve heart.

Ohh, second question: If mers were to have gills, how large would they be? And how would they be devopled? Because depending on where the mer lives the gills would have to be different. For example, fish that live in fast moving, cold, oxygen-rich rivers and streams need smaller gills, because the water is so rich in oxygen the gills don't need to be as large to asborb enough oxygen for the fish. The opposite is true for fish that live in warm, stagnant, oxygen-poor water. The gills are larger so that there is more surface area for gas exchange.

[spottedcatfish]

I have a question about a mer's skin. Human skin can't stay in saltwater for long periods of time without the salt eating away at the skin, creating ulcers. so how would a mer go about avoiding that from happening?



My response to this would be that a mermaids skin could be similar to a dolphin or whale skin. As for the rest of your questions, I'm not sure, but that's an interesting thing to wonder about.

[Alveric]

Is a two-chambered heart necessary for gills to work? Or is that simply what fish have because they're fish?

[LittleTreasure]

I don't know what I'd think about the issues of breathing...but...

Reproduction: I've always thought of that as something very similar to humans' reproduction. They'd be mammals. The female reproductive organs would face the front - a well-hidden slit hidden by her tail's coloring. The male's would be internal and front facing as well, and much like a dolphin's, but tucked in closer to the surface of the skin (thus, the infamous mer-bump). They'd have to face each other while being intimate.

As for their skin they'd probably have to have skin similar to a 'fleshy' fish's or a marine mammal like spottedcatfish suggested, until the tail starts.

[merboy78xy]

Well, We've certainly heard stories about them being able to see the future, fortell storms... I've heard of them granting wishes as well. Shapeshifting is a rather common idea of mermaids shedding their tail to walk on land (or like the Undine and their seal skins)... Some stories have them with magical artifacts that once a human captures this item, the mer is trapped to be their spouse... unless they find it and return to the sea.
as for other superpowers... I like my merfolk to be psychic, and have more telekinetic powers, but I still like them to be based in animal nature. Many animals can sense disasters, earthquakes, storms, etc. before they happen... I feel like if they were to have a SUPER power, I would like them to be able to control water elements (not unlike the girls of H2O). But I personally don't need them to have that power. I like them to be more animal.

I would like to mention something about mer-sex, since the topic was asked about their reproduction. Whereas, I have no personal stake in how they reproduce, if people like the idea of merfolk being mammalian based, it is interesting to look at sea mammals... a lot of them tend to be VERY sexual! I used to work with Manatees, and I was floored to learn that they will commit acts of group sex, oral sex, homosexual sex, etc. Rather kinky li'l seacows! And I've heard that some dolphins and whales are similar!

How about the blushing dolphins when they are excited they flush a bright pink?!
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[Mermarie]

My weird theory is that.. Well, when a mermaid dies, it turns into a human, and thats why you hardly ever see merfolk bodies lying in the ocean edge and stuff... This is just weird and awkward and I have no reason to say it, really, but thats just what I think :D

[Delphine]

I present the question: Do merfolk breathe underwater (possibly with some sort of gill system) or do they just hold their breath for an insane amount of time?
I always imagined a type of filtration or gill system in the lungs. Although I dont know how the water would be exhaled out of the body... hmmm.

Mermaid Brooke, an artist I found last year offers one way merfolk can breath underwater. Interesting, huh? I love his paintings!

9676 " The Golden Rose " 36" x 48" oil on panel, © 2007 Donato (http://www.donatoart.com/mythological/goldenrose.html#) Giancola 9677" Mermaid- The Sun Gazer " 30" x 24" oil on panel, © 2011 Donato (http://www.donatoart.com/mythological/mermaid-sungazer.html#) Giancola

[Joy&RaptorsUnrestrained!]

Hmmm... Prince Calypso, instead of having three genders, what if all merfolk could change genders (like the frogs/dinosaurs in jurassic park, several species of fish, etc) as needed, perhaps like succubi/incubi are supposed to be able to do?

As for breathing, I was wondering if merfolk might be like mudskippers... able survive on land for awhile despite having gills.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudskipper

Of course, such an adaptations would suggest that merfolk are relatively rare/endangered (for the former) and better suited for the shallows and tidal/beach areas, rather than the deeper waters and open oceans (that does lend itself to ideas about the reasons mermaids are depicted as sunning themselves on rocks and mermen are known to haunt particular straits (such as the Minch) that are bound by land on either side).

I largely agree with merboy78xy, about the superpowers. The average merman or mermaid shouldn't be tremendously powerful (exceptions such as nobles, sea witches, demigods, etc are present, but that's true for humans as well) unlike dragons, unicorns, phoenixes, djinn, or wish-granting/cursing fairies, but should be at about the same level of power as, say, a werewolf or elf or lesser vampire.

Delphine, while I love the paintings, I'm a bit confused... what method of breathing are you talking about? Just the fact that they have gill slits on their torsos?

[Alveric]

In chapter 13 of my my WIP Novel, The Girl With the Sea-Green Eyes, Annie, a water-breathing mermaid, finds a unique solution to breathing on land.

http://alveric2.deviantart.com/art/The-Girl-With-the-Sea-Green-Eyes-Chapter-13-351307369

[Delphine]

Delphine, while I love the paintings, I'm a bit confused... what method of breathing are you talking about? Just the fact that they have gill slits on their torsos?

Joy, I'm glad you like the paintings, as well. Donato Giancola is quite the skilled artist. What I got from them was that they perhaps have lungs AND gills. These gills "close up", like Sungazer above, so that the lungs activate on land. An interesting idea, though I have no clue how that may or may not work scientifically.