Trīton

Trīton, in Greek myth, a merman, son of Poseidon and Amphitritē, with human head and shoulders and a fish tail from the waist down. The origin of his name (as also of Amphitrite) is obscure and may not be Greek. He is commonly shown blowing on a conch-shell, and Virgil describes how the trumpeter Misenus challenged him to a contest on this instrument and was drowned by him. In some stories there are several Tritons (as in the case of Eros). Pausanias on his travels saw what he was told was a Triton preserved in brine.