Mermaids in Philippines (Story Time)

In Philippine mythology, mermaids are known as "Sirenas" or "Ibong Adarna." These mythical creatures are often depicted as beautiful women with fish tails instead of legs. They have the ability to enchant people with their melodious songs and mesmerizing appearances.

According to folklore, Sirenas are often seen in bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, and the sea. They are believed to live in extravagant underwater kingdoms and are said to possess various magical powers.

Transcript

You would easily think that the Philippines has lots of exotic mermaids and they do have many mermaid species.

Now this typical mermaid in Philippines is sirena,

Which is a typical type of mermaid,

Half woman,

Half fish.

But they also have more unusual mermaid species called siokio and these mermaids have much more unusual tails.

They have gills that they use for breeding and then they have like a brownish or grayish skin.

They can have tentacles and they're more like half squid,

Half woman,

And some of them actually have feet but they are webbed feet and they have webbed hands or they have scales in their legs.

On the top of the mermaid hierarchy in the Philippines are the katau and they are these creatures with human upper body and then fish torsos.

So they look like regular mermaids and mermen.

They actually have fins in their arms and they also have gills.

Katau,

They rule the aquatic creatures near the Philippines and they also rule the sea currents and the sea life.

Sirena is actually a Philippine mermaid goddess and she's very good and benevolent.

She gives fish for the fishermen and the other sirenas are her good mermaids,

But the katau,

They are the scary ones and the fishermen and the sailors are a bit scared of them.

According to the legend,

The katau appears to the fishermen and the sailors and he says that he's going to need some assistance and the good person goes and helps them and then the katau drowns them.