Fiji mermaid



The Fiji mermaid (or Feejee mermaid) is an object of the sideshow world, not a true cryptid, which was popularized by P. T. Barnum in a display at Barnum's American Museum. A proper model of the fiji mermaid would be an assemblage of the taxidermied lower half of a fish with the torso and head of a monkey, though papier-mâché or clay constructions approximating the same appearance are certainly more common and easier to knock-out if you were interested in making your own.

Resources

 * "The Feejee Mermaid" (museumofhoaxes.com) &mdash; background on the origins and Barnum's exhibition