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| - In any work of fiction with mermaids, there's a good chance that a male character will begin a romantic, or even a sexual, relationship with one. There's just one problem. There is... no obvious point of entry. That isn't to say, of course, that mermaids are completely lacking in sexual organs. Real fish, of course, have actual genitals. They just aren't compatible with those of a human, let alone easy to find or obvious to point out. A few biologists have a hard time even calling Piscine reproductive organs "genitals" because they are so very different from anything we, as mammals, would recognize. Most fish, quite simply, are incapable of sexual intercourse. Their version of reproduction is external, meaning that females deposit their eggs, which are then fertilized by the male's sperm. Of course, most writers simply disregard the biological impossibilities. Many writers simply Hand Wave any difficulties by saying that mermaids have the ability to assume fully human form under special circumstances. Alternatively, a sufficiently bawdy work--which one is likely to be if it brings up the Mermaid Problem in the first place--may simply point out that lower half aside, well...she's still got a mouth, doesn't she? This trope mainly deals with the variety where they don't gain human legs. Sometimes this problem may be lampshaded, but others no explanation is given. Compare Non-Mammal Mammaries. A good amount of series and fiction writers just have the fish/human separation dip a little in the front (in a U-shape) to allow for the genitalia, or use other methods to get the same result (see H-manga below). Then there's also the fact that just because her lower half has fins and scales doesn't mean that certain organs have to work the way a fish's does. And some fish--such as sharks--do give birth to live young, and thus have internal genitals. It is also possible for merfolk to be half-dolphin or some other marine mammal rather than half-fish (mermaid legends were inspired by distant manatee sightings in the first place), in which case they could have sexual organs compatible with a human's. Though in the original sailor tales mermaids moved like a porpoise, which made them all Unscaled Merfolk, this was probably confused with the fact that all sea mammals were drawn as fish with scales. Examples of Mermaid Problem include:
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