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A teenager has died after being bitten by a shark on the thigh and arm while fishing on a reef in Queensland, Australia, Sky News reported.

Ambulance officials said the 18-year-old, named as Daniel Smith by the ABC network, was dead by the time he reached shore, despite resuscitation attempts by his friends.

It is reported that they were on a private boat near Rudder Reef off Port Douglas, which is around 60km (37 miles) north of Cairns.

Queensland Ambulance Service executive manager of operations Greg Thiedecke said the boy went into cardiac arrest immediately after being bitten on his right upper leg, groin and upper arm.

"It would be speculating but (there are) a lot of large blood vessels in the groin area, so for him to go into cardiac arrest that quickly would be probably blood loss," he told the Cairns Post.

Veteran diver Col McKenzie, who heads the Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators, told reporters Rudder Reef was not a common spot for dive tourism operators.

But he said it was popular with spear fishing enthusiasts, and there was a fatal shark attack at nearby Opal Reef almost a decade ago to the day.