From Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy blog:

J08 is about 650 million light years away, and clearly has something going on to give it this weird, drawn out, and oddly pleasing curvy hooked shape. To any astronomer’s eye, it’s obviously undergone an interaction: a cosmic collision with or nearby pass of another galaxy. That will commonly elongate a galaxy like this, and even cause those curls at the ends. As two galaxies collide (and sometimes merge), the huge collective gravities of each stretch the other out like taffy, and an off-center collision can cause vast arcs of gas and stars to be drawn out.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/04/02/galaxies_and_gas_hubble_image_reveals_hidden_gas_clouds.html