As you can imagine writing up a comprehensive list of all weblinks that can be related to this subject can take a very, very, long time but here's the finished product. All the links are of an interest to this page for a specific reason and these reasons are to be found alongside of the link along with the bits I liked the best. Maybe you could find more links as the web is growing everyday . . .
SEATAILS ONLINE - this is a great page to find some modern stories of mermaids and mermen, along with photos, drawings and artwork and a modern sightings page for mermaids spoted in advertising and other modern mediums.
YAHOO SOCIETY AND CULTURE: FOLKLORE: MERMAID - this page gives links to pages that are listed here already. This should be a good page to find new sites as they arrive.
ARIELHOLIC'S ANONYMOUS HOME PAGE - a page where one can find out more about the Disney movie THE LITTLE MERMAID, the following television series and merchandise material. This page is good for indepth information about the making of the movie and links to articles written about mermaids, including two particulary good ones on the anatomy of mermaids and mermen that can be found below
ARIELHOLIC'S ANONYMOUS - another page where even more information about Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID can be found. It includes song lyrics, scripts, episode guides and pictures.
THE ARIEL TLM PICTURE ARCHIVE - just as the name suggests this is a page that contains many pictures of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID in thumbnail format, but clicking on the images enables one to view it in a larger form. There are some great quality pictures here, one you may have already seen in the art gallery.
PHILIP C. BRAINARD JR. - this page contains a gorgeous MERMAID AND DOLPHIN LAMP that is a little difficult to see very clearly but its beauty is very clear. This is an example of how the mermaid is still influencing artists today.
NARROW STRIP OF CONSCIOUSNESS - this is the page where I found the image of THE MERMAID by Howard Pyle. This page also contains other art works, poems and some other links, but the Howard Pyle painting is the only thing here mermaid related.
YAHOO - ARTS: LITERATURE: MYTHOLOGY - this page gives ten links to pages that are of interest to the hitory of mythologies, at last count. This is a great starting point to find other related links.
WELCOME TO MYTHTEXT - this is a wonderful, thorough page that attempts to include all known religions to man. It relates well to the study of the mermaid mythology because, as you may have already read in folkores and legends the mythologies actually started with the personifications of the gods of water elements. An excellent page.
THE MERMAID AND THE THREE WISHES - a humerous short story that is included here to show that the mermaid continues also to be a source for literature, even humerous ones such as this. This is fine for some light hearted relief.
MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE (RELIGION) - like the Yahoo page this Galaxy page gives links to informative pages on the topic of mythology and folklore. It'a good starting point.
MYTHS AND LEGENDS - altered on a very regular basis this page is a fast growing compilation of myths and legends that can be easily used by selecting the culture you want to know about. It also gives other links that can be found on the web. The contents on this page is huge and a must see for all related mythologies in all cultures and mediums!
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Steve's note: Someone tried to solve the age old question, "How do merfolk reproduce?", from an analytical standpoint. Rated PG. Kids, you may want to skip to some Top Ten lists.
Mermaids are humans from the waist up, but fishes from the waist down. The boundary between the human area and fish area happens in the pelvis; this area is part human-part fish (the outside of this area is fish). Areas above the pelvis are human, and areas below the pelvis are fish.
Mermaids have gills similar to that of fishes. This enables them to breathe underwater. However, they can also breathe surface air for extended periods of time (some fishes can do this too). They do have to keep their gills moist however; the moisture supports the gills, which collapse without it. Mermaids to have an ability to retrieve moisture from the air somewhat for this purpose; consequently they only need to drink water slightly more often than humans do. Mermaids' skin is also able to tolerate being constantly wet (stay in the sea a few days and see what happens to your skin). These are the only aspects of mermaids' upper bodies which are different from humans.
Mermaid tails are fish tails. Even though mermaids are warm-blooded, their tails are still cold-blooded. Their tails need moisture regularly to maintain integrity (just like fish tails do), especially the scales. However, a mermaid can stay out of water (in a humid area) for up to twelve hours (depends on the mermaid) without loosing tail integrity (in the episode "Metal Fish" at the end of the episode Ariel sat on a rock looking out into the distant horizon from afternoon until evening).
Females have human internal reproduction organs; however the vagina is slightly shorter, and the common urogenital opening (the urethra merges with the vaginal canal near the opening) is at the front. The opening can stretch as much as a human vaginal opening; mermaid babies are born live (as opposed to hatched from eggs). A clitoris (which is the same color as the tail) is slightly below the urogenital opening, and an anus is above the urogenital opening. Mermaid vaginas are slightly smaller than human ones (since male mermaid penises are smaller, explained below), so they tend to be more sexually satisfying to human males.
Males do have a penis, but it is almost as small as a human female clitoris and is the same color as the tail; it is hardly visible (this is the only plausible explanation to why no one has ever seen a penis on any of the male mermaids). It is used for urination, as well as sexual intercourse. The testicles are inside the tail, as opposed to the pelvis, since they require a slightly lower temperature to function properly (the human and pelvis part is warm-blooded, but the tail is cold-blooded). The anus is above the penis.
Steve's notes: Just like in real medical journals, a differing opinion on the controversial topic of mermaid anatomy. Rated PG. Kids, you may want to skip to some Top Ten lists.
In the aforementioned article 'Mermaid Anatomy', the author makes several erroneous statements about merpeople, many of which are pure conjecture, some of which are outright incorrect. In this article I hope to set the record straight. We will look at 'Mermaid Anatomy' section by section.
In the introduction, the author states that "mermaids are humans from the waist up, but fishes from the waist down." This is incorrect. Merpeople are not human or fish at all. They are mammals that resemble human/fish combinations. They are warm blooded creatures, fish are not. (In the episode 'Charmed', Ariel chides Flounder, commenting that he is a fish, the water temperature doesn't bother him, while she is getting cold.)
Also, mammals, all mammals have hair - fish do not. Thirdly, mammals are called mammals because the female of the species have mammary glands. (Anyone who has seen Ariel can testify that she very definitely has mammary glands.)
The statement could be made that mammals do not have scales, however, it is possible that they could. Fish are not the only animals to have scales, lizards have scales, some amphibians have scales and even humans can develop scale like formations. It is also possible that they are not scales at all, they may be patterns that resemble scales.
In 'How mermaids breathe' it is stated that mermaids have gills, similar to fishes. Again, untrue. They have organs in their chest that can operate as a lung or a gill, depending on whether they are in or out of the water. The organ expands and contracts, exactly like a lung, yet has the ability to extract oxygen from the water. This allows merpeople to 'breathe' water the same way they breathe air, by filling and evacuating the chest cavity with an in-out motion. (It has been seen in more than one episode, Ariel taking a deep inhale of 'water' because she is out of breath.) This organ is also needed to operate the larynx, which will be discussed next.
The author states that '(gills) are the only aspect of mermaids upper bodies that differ from humans.' Yet, the merperson's larynx is totally different from the human larynx. The human larynx cannot operate under water, it cannot be made to vibrate from water pressure, yet the merperson's larynx operates equally well using water or air. (Ariel's voice sounds exactly the same under water as it does outside of water.)
The lenses of merpeople's eyes are also different, able to correct focus for use both above and under water. Human eyes cannot do this. (Open your eyes underwater and see what I mean. It's no wonder Eric missed when he threw the harpoon at the Sea Witch... then again, maybe he's a lousy shot.)
The subject of 'Mermaid Tails' being fish tails has already been disproved.
'How mermaids reproduce' is reasonably accurate, insofar as live birth vs. hatching from eggs. However, the statement that '(the) clitoris (which is the same color as the tail) is slightly below the urogenital opening, is a falsehood, simply because mermaids do not have a clitoris. That function is provided by a different organ. Merpeople have, surrounding the pelvis area, a wrap of fin-like, translucent skin called the 'skirt'. In the female there is an area in the front of the body, just at the base of the skirt that is extremely sensitive, and reproduces the effect of a human clitoris.
The statement is made that the male's penis is 'almost as small as the human female clitoris and the same color as the tail, it is hardly visible. The author then goes on to say that 'this is the only plausible explanation as to why no one has ever seen a penis on any of the male mermaids.' Firstly, the term is 'merman or mermen' not 'male mermaids.' Secondly there is a very plausible reason as to why we haven't seen a penis on a merman... they have internal genitalia, only extending when used for sexual intercourse. Many mammals have internal genitalia, especially underwater dwelling mammals; i.e. whales and dolphins. During sexual excitement, the penis extends out from an opening in the skin. This opening, like the female's vagina, is well hidden, making it difficult to see. The merman penis varies in size, just like the human penis. (Note: Being able to swim really fast, lift heavy weights, or making a lot of noise peeling out on a squidcycle are common ways to 'prove' you have a bigger penis than the other mermen.)
I hope that this clears up any confusion. Please note that all research done so far has been on a theoretical level only. If Ariel is reading this, she has an open invitation to assist me in more practical, hands on research. Strictly for scientific accuracy, you understand. I'll even pay for dinner and a movie.
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