Tail split

Caught a beefy Rock bass today. It was what I was looking for and it was the first one I had ever caught. So naturally, I kept it. Unfortunately for it, there seems to be a BIT of a tail malfunction going on.

http://i52.tinypic.com/2emljiu.jpg

I've seen fish with split tails before, and with dealing with transferring fish from the wild to captivity it almost seems commonplace, but I've never seen a split that goes all the way into the tail like this. I'm assuming that the way it is split that this tail will never heal back together. Am I right? Is there anything I can do besides loving him for who he is?

Woah. How did you capture that fish? With a pitchfork? It looks like he's been pre-fillet'd in preparation for eating. Poor fishie.

But on a serious note, there's a chance he might get an infection. If the tail split begins to become fuzzy or discolored, you might want to dose the water with appropriate medication.

There's also a chance he might live. There's no way to know really without waiting it out. I'm not familiar with rock bass in particular, but I've had bettas who've torn their caudal fins nearly completely off and then regrown them over time. Zebra danios and other fish are often used as a model in regenerative medicine because they are able to regenerate both the rays and the soft fin tissue in between the rays.

That's pretty deep, and he will always be like that. Love him for who he is.

Yeah I did some research on it before posting here, but there wasn't really any information on a split that deep. I've had fish regrow bits and pieces of tails before but this has more or less become 2 tails. And everything looks to already be perfectly healed as though it had been that way for a while, which was the main reason I assumed it would always be that way.

I caught a 24" (yes we were electrofishing in an amazing marsh) bass a couple of weeks ago with absolutely no spinous dorsal fin. All healed and scarred over, but just a depression where the fin should've been. She was fat and healthy, though.