With no clear ID on bones, there's always imagination

The mystery is still unsolved. The experts at Mote Marine Laboratory still have not had a chance to examine a set of strange remains found on a Longboat Key beach.

A family on vacation found the bones last week.

With a long, sloping head, sharp spikes and large eye sockets, the creature was like nothing they had seen before. It was several feet long -- and the Robinson family only found half of its torso.

Curious, they took the bones to scientists and sent photographs to researchers throughout the region.

The guesses were varied: red drum, black drum, Goliath grouper, even a saltwater sturgeon. No one has provided a definitive answer. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission asked if the Robinsons found the lower part of the jaw.

They did not, but FWC guessed something in the Sciaenidae family -- like the drum.

At Mote, mammal researchers took a guess -- a snook or tarpon -- but the experts who study fish were not around to see it yet. And with the Robinsons returning home next week, Mote may not have another shot to investigate.

So the Robinson family, vacationers from Texas, will go home with a preserved skeleton and a good story to tell their friends.

But they probably will not have an answer.

With no clear ID on bones, there's always imagination Published Saturday, June 28, 2008
Herald Tribune