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Coradion
05-15-2012, 03:29 AM
I don't know if anyone will find this helpful, but I'm a Marine Bio undergrad and my focus is ichthyology and fish biology. I'm pretty sure this will be reflected heavily in my tail and already is in my monofin. I thought it might be good to start a thread on different aspects of fishes that can be applied to mermaid tails. This might help with inspiration, making more realistic tails, whatever. If you have a question about fishes or a particular fish post it and I or someone else may be able to answer.

Prince Calypso
05-15-2012, 05:23 AM
marine biologist among mermaids dude your rock.
i honestly at one point wanted to study marine life but it required way too much math work and i suck at math, but it would be extremely interesting to hear your point of view on mermaids and tails based on different species of fish

my own mer-persona is based on the mermaids from Pirates of the Caribbean. i have no clue what fish species they were based on if any
but ive always had things for fish with flowly fins as well bone and plated fish and sharks

Coradion
05-15-2012, 07:49 AM
The POTC mermaids probably aren't based on any fish I know, but they do show some characteristics of certain marine fishes. The POTC mermaids' paired fins look like they were meant to be showy not functional. Paired fins usually serve to balance in the water as well as turn and maneuver. The caudal fins though are probably the most notable aspect of the POTC mermaids. While they are rather disproportionately large, they are also heavily forked. This is a characteristic of pelagic fishes which are strong and fast swimmers. Most predatory pelagic fishes have this type of tail.

Prince Calypso
05-15-2012, 11:52 PM
oh wow. i wonder how many mermaid know that their flukes describe the kind of fish they are based on.
i never knew that forked or pointed fins were a sign of predatory fish.
dude yours gonna go far in mermaid and marine biology

Coradion
05-16-2012, 12:47 AM
Most mermaids have truncate or lunate fins that are usually characteristic of slower swimming lifestyles. Lots of reef fish have truncate and lunate tails.

Azurin Luna
05-16-2012, 06:46 AM
Gah... I feel such a noob now as I have no idea what truncate or lunate fins means. But my next mermaid tail will have the back fin like that of a sailfish :)

Coradion
05-16-2012, 04:22 PM
The caudal fin of most sailfish is forked ;)

Azurin Luna
05-16-2012, 04:52 PM
Aww.. Now you are being mean... I just posted an image of my tail on the forum under tailmaking, maybe then you cn make sense :P

Nemefish
05-16-2012, 07:38 PM
this is so interesting, im loving this thread<3 :3 mostly cuz i iz nerd of many things, and bio is one of them :} <3:thumbs-up::hail:

Coradion
05-28-2012, 08:54 PM
I'll go through some of my textbooks and see if I can post caudal fin pictures.

~Molly~
05-29-2012, 12:29 AM
Most mermaids have truncate or lunate fins that are usually characteristic of slower swimming lifestyles.

ya mon...everyting irie. :)

Mermaid Lorelei
05-29-2012, 12:46 AM
http://fishanatomy.net/webpages/Facts/fins/pic/caudal.gif
Found here: http://fishanatomy.net/webpages/Facts/fins/fins.html

Coradion
10-27-2012, 08:48 PM
One thing I've noticed with a lot of tails even some of the MVD tails is the way caudal fins have really weird bone detailing. The bones in a caudal usually originate from the caudal peduncle region.

http://chestofbooks.com/animals/Manual-Of-Zoology/images/Fig-248-Skeleton-of-the-common-Perch-Perca-fluviatilis.jpg

So when you see "V" shaped caudal fin patterns it confuses me because it implies bones are originating in the middle of the fin.