Manaia (mythological creature) Manaia (mythological creature) The Manaia is a mythological creature in Māori culture, and is a common motif in Māori carving and jewellery. The Manaia is usually depicted as having the head of a bird and the tail of a fish and the body of a man, though it is sometimes depicted as a bird, a serpent, or a human figure in profile. Other interpretations include a seahorse and a lizard. The word "manaia" is cognate with the founding Samoan term "fa'amanaia", and relevant to the Niuean "fakamanaia", both meaning to make a decoration or embellishment. The Manaia is traditionally believed
Soft-shell crab main species is the blue crab, "Callinectes sapidus", which appears in markets from April to September. In the Deep South region of the United States, "Buster crab" is often a synonym for a plump, meaty soft-shell crab, this usage especially common in the culinary centers such as New Orleans and Charlotte. This is despite the fact that the original meaning of Buster crab referred to either a soft-shell that had yet to complete molting, or to a soft-shell that had died before being provided to a seafood vendor, and was then consumed by the crabber. In Japan, various species are