Vienna, Aug. 29: New forms of marine life are usually tracked down in the rarefied waters of the Great Barrier Reef or Red Sea. A new species of “furry” shark, however, which hops like a frog rather than swims, has been discovered in the unprepossessing habitat of a German aquarium.

The 70 cm female shark, nicknamed Cuddles, is covered in hairy bristles, has big nostrils and an extra gill that set her apart from the 405 known shark species.

According to the dozens of marine biologists who have flocked to inspect Cuddles, her fins are smaller but more muscular than those found on similar-sized sharks. She claps them together in order to hop across the bottom of her tank, in the Sea Star aquarium in Coburg.

“She leaps over the seabed like a frog rather than swimming gracefully like most sharks,” said Peter Faltermeer, a marine biologist and the aquarium’s curator.

The scientists, he said, were confounded. “They were all left totally baffled and we were left delighted,” Faltermeer said. “They couldn’t classify her. Cuddles is unique and she belongs to us.”

The shark’s former home, an Austrian zoo, gave her to the aquarium, not realising her rarity. The Sea Star is now in the process of choosing a Latin and English name for the new species.

“This is the first time a totally new species of shark has been found not in the wild but in a fish tank,” he said. “It is amazing.”

He believes that because Cuddles does not have sensory organs at the front of the head, as do other sharks, she uses the bristles that cover her from head to tail to provide an early warning of possible predators, or prey.

“She lets algae grow without trying to rub it off, which is gradually turning the bristles bright red,” said Faltermeer. “We believe the bristles pick up movements in the water, and the algae helps to thicken the bristles and lengthen them.”

Unlike other sharks, the iris of Cuddles’ eyes is fixed open. She also has abnormally wide nostrils and a fifth gill that is designed to filter plankton. “Other sharks filter plankton, but these don’t also chase fish,” he said.

“But Cuddles has a full set of teeth and the main ones are extraordinarily long.

“She seems to eat anything. We’ve tried squid, red bass, krill and trout, and she eats it all. She also has an enormously strong bite for her size. She can bite through things other sharks would have problems with.”

He believes that the shark has adapted to living and hunting in the dark — probably in a cave rather than in deep water. Most of the biologists believe that Cuddles came from somewhere around southern Africa.