Nereides
Nērēĭdĕs (16) et Nērĕĭdĕs, um, f. , Néréides [filles de Nérée et de Doris, nymphes de la mer] : Catul. 64, 15 ; Tib. 1, 6, 9 ; Ov. H. 5, 57.
Nereïdes
(Νηρηΐδες). The nymphs of the sea, daughters of Nereus (q.v.) and Doris. They were said to be fifty in number, though Propertius (iii. 5, 33) makes them a hundred. The best known were Amphitrité, wife of Poseidon, Thetis, Galatea, Doto, etc. They were originally represented as having sea-grown hair and descending into a fish-like form, like the mermaids of later times. See Pliny, H. N. ix. 4; and the articles Naiades; Nymphae; Oceanides.