Jiaolong (traditional Chinese: 蛟龍; simplified Chinese: 蛟龙; pinyin: jiāolóng; Wade–Giles: chiao-lung) or jiao (chiao, kiao) is a serpent like creatures in Chinese mythology, often defined as a "scaled dragon"; it is hornless according to certain scholars and said to be aquatic or river-dwelling. It may have referred to a species of crocodile. A number of scholars point to non-Sinitic southern origins for the legendary creature and ancient texts chronicle that the Yue people once tattooed their bodies to ward against these monsters. In English translations, jiao has been variously rendered as "jiao-dragon", "crocodile", "flood dragon", "scaly dragon", or even "kraken".