"A Jenny Haniver is the carcass of a ray or a skate which has been modified and subsequently dried, resulting in a grotesque preserved specimen.

One suggestion for the origin of the term was "jeune d'Anvers" (French for Antwerp is Anvers), that is "young girl of Antwerp." British sailors "cockneyed" this description into the personal name "Jenny Hanvers."

For centuries, sailors sat on the Antwerp docks and carved these "mermaids" out of dried cuttlefish. They then preserved them further with a coat of varnish. They supported themselves by selling their artistic creations to working sailors as well as to tourists visiting the docks.

Jenny Hanivers have been created to look like devils, angels and dragons. Some writers have suggested the sea monk may have been a Jenny Haniver.

The earliest known picture of a Jenny Haniver appeared in Konrad Gesner's Historia Animalium vol. IV in 1558. Gesner warned that these were merely disfigured rays, and should not be believed to be miniature dragons or monsters, which was a popular misconception at the time. It is possible that Jenny Hanivers were the source of some tales of dragons during the Middle Ages, and they affirmed people's belief in dragons. Jenny Hanivers may also have started the legends of Mermaids."

- Wikipedia







"This' fish ', which is not a cut ray but a rare animal of about one meter in height, which emerges from the water, walks on two legs and even climbs trees - it was' seized' when it was harpooned under water for two individuals who came to his house at night, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Apparently they were members of the CIA attracted by the assertions of a journalist who said that probably it was a being from another planet. "

- Salvador Freixedo (Spanish Translation)












"I saw at Paris five two-footed creatures with very small wings, which one could scarcely deem capable of flight, with a small head, with the head like a Serpent, of a bright colour, and without any feathers or hair. The size of the largest of the five was about that of a small rabbit."

- Hieronimus Cardanus







"There is a fish, which also appears to be the family of Manta, without need for any incision, has an impressive appearance of Satan and can leave the water, remaining well supported upright in their two long legs and moving with some agility to base jumps. Its size is quite larger than that of the cut rays which have come to little more than a meter wingspan. For their movements out of the water when it is upright, is supported by its strong and long cylindrical tail, which is also used as a deadly weapon to trap and strangle their prey (...) not exempt human prey.

"He has strong tusks although a little haphazardly placed and a protuberant nose, something that is lacking completely in cut rays. The legs and thighs especially, are perfectly round, not noticed at all the cuts which are fully manifest in the prepared rays '.

"Moreover, males have a fully erect genitalia, which is something that usually happens in fish, and with no small resemblance to humans. The skin of the front is very soft and too similar to humans, while that of the back or the back is rough and similar to that of sharks."

- “Mundo Desconocido” no.7 (Spanish Translation of Spanish Magazine)










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