'Squiggly shark' with 'rare' deformity hooked in Titusville: 'I feel bad keeping this one'

Dani Medina
·2 min read

TITUSVILLE, Fla. - A "squiggly shark" with an apparent tail deformity was discovered in Titusville earlier this month – and researchers have revealed a possible explanation as to why the big fish looks the way it does.

On June 3, Brian Tittle and his son were fishing in the backyard of their home in Titusville when they hooked a young bull shark.

<div>A shark with an apparent deformation, which wildlife officials revealed was a form of scoliosis or spinal deformity affecting the vertebral column, was found in Titusville on June 3. (Photo: Brian Tittle)</div>
A shark with an apparent deformation, which wildlife officials revealed was a form of scoliosis or spinal deformity affecting the vertebral column, was found in Titusville on June 3. (Photo: Brian Tittle)

"It took us an hour to reel it in," Tittle told FOX 35. "As soon as I seen it's tail, I knew something was wrong."

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Tittle said he initially thought it could have been a broken tail or an injury from a propeller, but he wasn't too sure. So he and his wife snapped a few photos of the "peculiar-looking" creature and sent them to his friend with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Research Institute.

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After taking photos and videos of the bull shark, Tittle and his son released it back into the water.

<div>A shark with an apparent deformation, which wildlife officials revealed was a form of scoliosis or spinal deformity affecting the vertebral column, was found in Titusville on June 3. (Photo: Brian Tittle)</div>
A shark with an apparent deformation, which wildlife officials revealed was a form of scoliosis or spinal deformity affecting the vertebral column, was found in Titusville on June 3. (Photo: Brian Tittle)

"I figured it had a tough life already," he said.

Tittle said FWC researchers told him the shark had scoliosis. The research team also posted its findings on Facebook on Friday.

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"The shark appears to have some form of scoliosis or spinal deformity affecting the vertebral column," researchers wrote. "While the condition is rare, our team has encountered similar anomalies in other shark and bony fish species. This particular shark was successfully released, but our team has x-ray images of other specimens, like this seatrout, where you can see the strange shape of the vertebral column."

Toby Daly-Engel, an assistant professor of marine sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology, told FOX 35's Esther Bower that even though this bull shark has scoliosis, it can still live pretty normally.

"Its deformities are not so bad that it can’t do what it needs to do, and that’s fascinating," Daly-Engel said.

<div>The FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute shared X-ray images of other fish species, like this seatrout, where you can see the "strange shape of the vertebral column." (Photo: FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute)</div>
The FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute shared X-ray images of other fish species, like this seatrout, where you can see the "strange shape of the vertebral column." (Photo: FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute)

"I feel bad keeping this one," Tittle said about the bull shark.