15 Biggest Hoaxes That Fooled The World

The origins of this curious object are still uncertain, but there are a number of theories. Chief of these is that it is an object created by local artists  and potentially "improved" by the Japanese fishermen that sold it to western sailors. There are lots of versions, but they generally all follow the same blueprint of a mammalian torso with the lower half of a fish, probably using the torso of a monkey. 

The first person to introduce the curiosity to the west was an American sailor by the name of Samuel Barrett Edes. Far from the beautiful reputation of mermaids of legend, the Fiji Mermaid is definitely not a looker. It had fish scales, animal hair, large, pendulous breasts and a flat face with bared, pointed teeth. Edes had bought it from some fishermen on his travels for some $6000 and returned to America with it in 1822. The famous P T Barnum had it examined and agreed to display it in his museum of novelties.

Must controversy arose around the object, which was eventually destroyed when Barnum's museum caught fire. Despite this, many other copies have surfaced all around the world - many of which claiming to be the original - and the legend of the Fiji Mermaid lives on.