Is it right say 一人の人魚?

Question

I composed one sentence.

一人の人魚は「彼は動いていない，死んだでしょう」と言いました。The mermaid said 'It seems he isn't moving, maybe he is dead'

Is it right to say 一人 about mermaids? If they are not humans, should I use special counting suffix? are there any another mistakes?

Answer 1

According to the article cited below, the correct counter for mermaids is indeed 一人, 二人, etc. It says that because mermaids have a somewhat similar physical form to humans and that they share the same basic emotions as humans, the counter for people is used.

• https://chigai-allguide.com/%E4%BA%BA%E9%AD%9A%E3%81%AE%E6%95%B0%E3%81%88%E6%96%B9%E3%81%A8%E9%AC%BC%E3%81%AE%E6%95%B0%E3%81%88%E6%96%B9/#:~:text=%E4%BA%BA%E9%AD%9A%E3%81%AF%E3%80%8C%E4%B8%80%E4%BA%BA%E3%80%81%E4%BA%8C%E4%BA%BA,%E6%95%B0%E3%81%88%E3%82%89%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8%E3%81%8C%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B%E3%80%82