A rare species of shark usually found around Brazil and Australia has washed up on a beach near Plymouth in Devon, baffling experts.

Steven Greenfields was walking with his family at Hope Cave beach when he spotted the dead Crocodile Shark.

He said: 'We regularly visit this beach and have never seen anything like this before.

The crocodile shark found washed up on the Hope Cave beach in Plymouth, Devon, thousands of miles from its usual home

'My whole family was stunned as the animal had really unusual features but was unmistakably a shark. I have experience with sharks whilst swimming and diving overseas, but, despite a fair amount of fishing and swimming in the UK all my life, have never seen any shark in UK waters other than dogfish.

'Because it was so unusual we consulted our local aquarium to confirm what species it was.'

The shark is usually native to warmer seas around Brazil and Australia and experts are baffled as to how it ended up in Devon

Photos of the Pseudocarcharias kamoharai, or Crocodile shark, were examined by experts who said it was the first of its kind to be found in the UK.

Usually found in tropical waters, the Crocodile shark is the smallest living mackerel shark.

It is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, and experts think it might have died from shock when it reached cold waters

They usually only reach one metre in length and can be distinguished by their elongated cigar-shaped bodies, extremely large eyes, relatively small fins, and razor sharp teeth.

Crocodile sharks are listed as 'near threatened' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

James Wright, curator at the National Marine Aquarium, commented: 'On first inspection of the photos we thought the animal could be a juvenile Porbeagle Shark, which is found in UK waters. However, we identified numerous traits which suggested it was not any shark usually recorded in UK waters.

'Exploring our network of contacts led to successful identification by Marc Dando who is a local professional wildlife artist, whose work can be seen at the aquarium.

CROCODILE SHARKS The Pseudocarcharias kamoharai is a species of mackerel shark that usually inhabits tropical waters. The English name is derived from the Japanese which mean 'water crocodile'. They have spindle-shaped bodies with a short head and a bulbous, pointed snout, and large eyes. They grow to a maximum of 1.1metre, or 3.6 ft and weigh around 4-6 kgs, or 9-13lbs. They are not considered dangerous to humans. Advertisement

'This species has never been recorded in the UK before, as it is normally found in deep waters during the day in tropical climates, such as Brazil and Australia, then coming shallower at night to feed. It is likely to be an isolated incident, but there have been similar stranding incidents in South Africa. This time of year though UK waters are at their coldest so this occurrence is very unusual.'

He added that the shark most likely would have gone into shock and died when it reached such cold waters.

Paul Cox, managing director of The Shark Trust, added: 'They are relatively uncommon and the UK is well outside the shark's usual range so it's a really interesting find.'

'Currently listed as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the Crocodile Shark is too small to be valuable in fisheries.

'However, they are caught, like many other sharks, as bycatch in high seas fisheries which will likely impact on their future status.

'For all sharks, but especially the less common ones, any information that we can get is useful so it's great that this one has been reported and identified.'