Yes, absolutely. I'll have to do something about mermaid society. They're not just fish, they're people. That means they teach their kids, they don't just leave them to the waves and their instincts. Hence, the idea of mermen caring for the young mermaids like sea horse males. On the other hand, nothing says that anything that seems like a female human for mimicry purposes (the sailors are MALE, after all) actually needs to BE female.