MovieChat Forums > The Little Mermaid (1989) Discussion > How do mermaids reproduce? :)

How do mermaids reproduce? :)


They have nothing down there - just their tails, no genitalia :)

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http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2119876/

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Like fish.

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By laying eggs? :)

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http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2119876/

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Yes.

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But then Ariel would have MANY siblings :) Her mom would have laid a LOT of eggs - you know, like a fish :) Or snake :) Not too romantic :)

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Perhaps mermaids are much like fish who are egg depositors and don't lay as much eggs. Or perhaps they reproduce like livebearing fish and they don't lay eggs at all.

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But it it functioned like in fish, then a mermmaid would have to give birth, for the baby would be developing in her womb - and it seems such a mermaid has no vagina :)

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Fish don't have very prominent vaginas either, it's just a small opening. Mermaids seem to have big scales, which perhaps hide their reproductive organs. We're talking about a fictitious species here.

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But what about mermaid males then? It seems they have nothing down there. Even if it's a fictious species, still, it's that aspect they do share with real life folks - we reproduce and they also have to - but in what way?

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Livebearers have an anal fin instead of a penis. Mermaids could have something similar, perhaps it's hidden beneath the scales or maybe they can even retract it.

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I know how fish do this - I keep black mollies in my fish tank - but in case of people - even if they do look like half-fish - it sounds funny :) It doesn't seem romantic - that their reproduction would boil down to their rubbing each other's cloacas :) Like fish - no wonder Ariel preferred a human to a male mermaid :) Lol.

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Sex isn't always romantic for humans either. Maybe mermaids have a mating ritual they consider romantic.

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Just… the fact that this conversation is even taking place… and just keeps going with so much thought put into it… I just … GOD I love the internet!!

win!!

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[deleted]

Correction, they DO have genitalia, it's just different from humanity's genitalia.

So far as reproduction, I would assume based on their possessing functional breasts that they're mammalian, which would mean they either gave live birth or they laid eggs similar to Platypi or Echidnas, only more suited for an oceanic environment.

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[deleted]

Sigh, you all need some educational videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOLaTBMxmbk

"He's dusted, busted and disgusted, but he's ok"

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I honestly never thought about it. I guess since their lower halves are that of fish, that means their reproductive organs are fish-like. They must do whatever fish do and maybe even lay eggs? I know that's kind of a weird thought but I suppose it kinda makes sense.

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Technically, Merpeople's "fish" halves are more comparable to a whale or dolphin than to actual fish due to the horizontal fins (fish generally have vertical fins), so we can't even say that their reproduction's going to be like a fish. And considering they are most likely mammals due to the mermaids presumably possessing functional mammary glands (we know that King Triton certainly has nipples, and if the mermen have nipples, it's reason to assume the mermaids have nipples as well), they're either going to give birth live, or otherwise, they reproduce like echidnas and the duck-billed platypus, only their eggs would be more adapted to water (ie, they won't be in eggshells).

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It does make more sense that way, since humans are mammals, an aquatic variant should be more akin to whales than fish. I was just going by their design in the movie; their tails do look more fish-like in Disney's version.

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Maybe, but then again, Armadillos and Tree Pangolins have scales as well, yet they were mammals. Just because they look fishlike doesn't mean they aren't mammals.

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They give birth the same way dolphin and whales do.

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I always thought they get pregnant from kissing.

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