The search for the body of a surfer believed to have been taken by a shark in South Australia has been called off.

Earlier, his brother Kenneth Appleby paid tribute online to the much-loved surfer.

“The pain we are feeling as a family is impossible to describe,” he wrote.

“We are absolutely devastated, and there is a gaping hole in our hearts.

“The only solace we can find is knowing that Lance was doing what he loved with a beaming smile on his face.

“Forever young, forever surfing, forever loved.”

His former Football Club Marble Range described Appleby as having “a heart of gold, who always had a smile on his face, and adored within our community”.

More than $90,000 has been raised for the family online.