The manaia is a creature from Maori mythology, a guardian spirit.

It is depicted with the head of a bird, body of a human and tail of a fish to symbolize its power upon air, earth and sea.
Its hand typically has three fingers to represent the balance of these three elements.

It's a symbol of balance and protection.

This Maori styled manaia tattoo was created as part of a series of designs related to the theme of protection, which are freely available for download as a bonus book in our designs series: PROTECTION - Bonus book free download.