What is "amabie"

Amabie is a legendary Japanese mermaid or merman with 3 legs, who allegedly emerges from the sea and prophesies either an abundant harvest or an epidemic.

It appears to be a variant of the (also amahiko), otherwise known as the , and , which are depicted as ape-like, bird-like, or torso-less ( cephalopod-like), and usually 3-legged.