Serious Mermaid Question

[peelsdeeni]

So I was just scrolling through memes like a normal person right. And then I stumbled upon this post that asked, is the top part of a mermaid, fish, or read meat? Do they just like, blend, somewhere where the human meets fish? And I just sat there, on my bed, questioning everything that I've ever known about mermaids. Please, I need an answer, for the sake of my sanity.

 

[High-in-the-skys]

So I was just scrolling through memes like a normal person right. And then I stumbled upon this post that asked, is the top part of a mermaid, fish, or read meat? Do they just like, blend, somewhere where the human meets fish? And I just sat there, on my bed, questioning everything that I've ever known about mermaids. Please, I need an answer, for the sake of my sanity.

You need sleep

 

[Lloyd]

Its kinda like dolphin only way more slimy.

 

[LoliGent]

Doesn't matter to a zombie. It's all meat to them. What does a zombie have to do with this discussion? Well, that's rude of you, dismissing the zombies from the conversation.

 

[Derin_Edala]

Human meat is chemically almost identical to pork, so we're already white meat. Mermaids are white meat all the way through regardless.

In terms of the coherency of the being, you have two real options for mermaids -- either a mermaid is a single being, so the human and fish halves are the same general type of cells (same DNA all the way through), or it's a pair of symbiotes, with the top and bottom halves being different animals and therefore needing to both reproduce. I've never read any stories that explain the separate propogation of mermaid heads vs. tails, so I'd go with a singular animal unless otherwise specified. A mermaid isn't half a human stuck on top of half a fish; it's a single coherent being that happens to outwardly resemble that arrangement, and the meat all the way through is probably as similar as beef ribs are to rump steak.

 

[AliceShiki]

I wouldn't count the upper party of the body as fish, feels weird... >.>

 

[LinXueLian]

Hmmmm. I like to think that mermaids are human DNA in terms of flesh all the way through. Their vertebrae should end at the same length as ours do (around the pelvis area) and instead of having leg bones like our femur, tibia, fibula, etc, it's appended past the pelvis like the long hermal spine of the fish.... eh, except you know, it's not actually a spine, the nerves aren't there, the nervous system surrounding it are more like our legs. I imagine they would have rays and radial cartilages which we don't to propel themselves through the water.

So... basically humans but with additional or subtracted features? The DNA pattern should be similar the whole way through imo. Makes it easier to identify and categorize. Same with beastmen!

 

[AliceShiki]

Hmmmm. I like to think that mermaids are human DNA in terms of flesh all the way through. Their vertebrae should end at the same length as ours do (around the pelvis area) and instead of having leg bones like our femur, tibia, fibula, etc, it's appended past the pelvis like the long hermal spine of the fish.... eh, except you know, it's not actually a spine, the nerves aren't there, the nervous system surrounding it are more like our legs. I imagine they would have rays and radial cartilages which we don't to propel themselves through the water.

So... basically humans but with additional or subtracted features? The DNA pattern should be similar the whole way through imo. Makes it easier to identify and categorize. Same with beastmen!

I'm surprised you actually rationalized it to this extent... >.>

I'm just like... "Meh, mythical creatures exist in this setting and that's all I need to care about~"

 

[Snusmumriken]

Hmmmm. I like to think that mermaids are human DNA in terms of flesh all the way through. Their vertebrae should end at the same length as ours do (around the pelvis area) and instead of having leg bones like our femur, tibia, fibula, etc, it's appended past the pelvis like the long hermal spine of the fish.... eh, except you know, it's not actually a spine, the nerves aren't there, the nervous system surrounding it are more like our legs. I imagine they would have rays and radial cartilages which we don't to propel themselves through the water.

So... basically humans but with additional or subtracted features? The DNA pattern should be similar the whole way through imo. Makes it easier to identify and categorize. Same with beastmen!

why not just turn off the formation of legs and overclock the vertebrae generation? Suddenly you have no legs and a very long tail. Something like that is theoretically possible without even large DNA modification. This is a more signalling issue.

The only real DNA modification would be if you wanted fish scales to cover the tail for example. But something like a dolphin is more doable on the spot.

 

[LinXueLian]

I'm surprised you actually rationalized it to this extent... >.>

I'm just like... "Meh, mythical creatures exist in this setting and that's all I need to care about~"

I'm very interested in animal biology! Plant biology too! Fantasy herb species are the greatest~ I want to make perfumes that can help cultivators fight or improve their strength out of rare herbal flowers if I ever transmigrate...

why not just turn off the formation of legs and overclock the vertebrae generation? Suddenly you have no legs and a very long tail

Ahhh! I don't want them to get a spinal injury and possibly suffer vegetative state when something happens to their tail! That's why I didn't overclock the vertabrae

And yes I want fish scales! They're very beautiful.

 

[atgongumerki]

Possibly mermaids (and sirens) are more closely related to seals, sealions and those creatures.

If memory serves right, those evolved from land animals that went back to living underwater.

I don't know what kind of meat they have.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Mermaids aren't born; a mad scientist makes them by stitching people and fish together. Naturally, there is some cross-contamination of flavors at the transition point.

 

[LinMeili]

Mermaids are fish all the way through, top and bottom.

 

[Derin_Edala]

Mermaids aren't born; a mad scientist makes them by stitching people and fish together. Naturally, there is some cross-contamination of flavors at the transition point.

That would cause massive immune problems. The blood systems aren't even compatible.

 

[Szaku]

do mermaids poop or do they have a special flap somewhere that allows sea cucumbers and krill to wriggle inside for periodic maintenance and waste removal?

 

[Ediav42]

Now I would imagine that their skin would at least be fish enough to not dry out in the water like a human’s does (sit in the bath too long and fingers go pruny and such) unless there is some kind of magic or other biological force that trumps our knowledge. So I would say the skin would be the fishy but the interior (the upper half at least unless this happens to be a world where the lower half can change to human legs too) has a good chance of being similar to human (as a note, scientists agree human meat is not healthy as you would take in bacteria that most thrive in humans and just isn’t as good as other options like chicken or cow).

I would open one more facet of this conversation with sexual organs (see this amusing animation that happens to discuss this in less than 3 mins): skip to 2:15 if you just concern yourself with mermaid question

 

[Jemini]

The difference between the muscles of fish Vs mammals has entirely to do with what kind of bones it is attaching to. Guess what kind of bones a mermaid has in the upper part.

 

[TotallyHuman]

Tastes like chicken

 

[peelsdeeni]

I think after reading all this I might get a better score on human biology for some reason

Tastes like chicken

H-how do you know that? Ha-have you ate mermaid before? And now this leads to my second question, if mermaids were real, would they be endangered? Like, just think about it. If they tasted like chicken, wouldn't some people actually eat them? So, would they be endangered?

 

[Napelynn]

H-how do you know that? Ha-have you ate mermaid before? And now this leads to my second question, if mermaids were real, would they be endangered? Like, just think about it. If they tasted like chicken, wouldn't some people actually eat them? So, would they be endangered?

Why eat mermaid when you can eat chicken?