LANGKAWI, MALAYSIA - The "guitarfish" has resurfaced here.

After a hiatus of a year since its last sighting in Teluk Air Tawar in Penang, the peculiar-looking fish with a stingray-like head and a shark's body, resurfaced in Kampung Belanga Pecah yesterday.

Villager Haslan Dahakim, 24, stumbled upon the greyish-black leathery creature while out on an angling trip with his uncle, Hussin Zakaria, 40, near Pulau Peluru about 8am.

"I knew I had a good catch judging from the way it struggled to get free.

"I was very surprised when it turned out to be the peculiar-looking fish similar to the one that I read about in the newspapers last year."

Weighing about 30kg and a metre in length, the white-bellied guitarfish has spots on the fins, body and tail and sharp thorns on its head.

The fish is not believed to be a native of this part of the world, but thrives in the Red Sea, some parts of East Africa, Papua New Guinea, north of Japan and in southern Australia.

Belonging to the genus Rhina, the bow guitarfish is usually found on the sea floor where it is muddy or sandy and feeds on shrimps, crabs and shellfish.