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A Cecaelia is a composite mythical being, appearing occasionally in art and literature (especially from Japan), combining the head, arms and torso of a woman (more rarely a man) and the tentacles of an octopus or squid, as a form of mermaid or sea demon. The term is a corruption of coleoidian, a genus of squid, and derives originally from a comic in Eerie magazine from the early 1970s featuring an octopoidal character named Cecaelia.

Cecaelia (fem -sing) Cecaeliae (fem -Plu)

To make it more english, add an 's' to the singular feminine instead: Cecaelias

Cecaelium (masc -sing) Cecaelii (masc -plu). The double 'i' doesn't work as well in English so possibly usethe plural accusative Cecaelios (masc -plu). Drop the 'o' for the singular.

Cecaelia have appeared occasionally in artwork and literature, though not consistently named. The Japanese erotic artist Hokusai produced a couple of pieces that featured such a woman-octopus hybrid, as well as related pieces showing couplings of women with octopi.

Lovecraft's mythology frequently featured squid and octopoi hybrids, including a two legged female Cecaelian derived from both The Shadow of Innsmouth and Dagon, which was made into a movie, Dagon, in 2001, with Macarena Gómez playing the role of the siren-like Uxía Cambarro.

The aforementioned Eerie magazine (Warren Publishing) featured a Cecaelia that helped a shipwrecked sailor back to land.

Perhaps one of the most famous Cecaelia in modern history is Ursula the Sea Witch, from The Little Mermaid (1989 film) (and later in the 2007 direct-to-DVD prequel The Little Mermaid III), voiced by Pat Carroll. Full figured and blue-tinged skin, Ursula uses her black-and-purple tentacle arms to dramatic effect, though in the climax of the film she is killed by Prince Eric. (Trivially, she was only animated with six tentacles compared to a real octopus's eight.) Her sister, the Cecaelia Morgana, is featured in much the same role in the 2000 direct-to-DVD sequel The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea - though in form she's thinner and more squid-like.

A male Cecaelian is figured as a guard in the Ricky Martin video "She Bangs", which also featured a combined live-action CGI mermaid.

• Seatails.org, for a discussion of the term

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