Australians were left stumped after a woman found an ‘alien’-like creature washed up on a Victorian beach.

The beach goer was exploring the rock pools on the coast of Fairhaven, a small town 124km south of Melbourne, when she came across the unusual sight on the rocks.

With a blood-red bulbous top attached to a long stem, the creature was labelled as ‘weird’ and ‘scary’ by people online before others revealed the object was most likely a sea tulip.

‘Found in the rock pools. It was kinda hard, plant like,’ the woman wrote in a post to the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria Facebook page.

People were quick to share their guesses as to what it could be while others were shocked by the creature saying it looked like it was ‘from another planet’.

‘I thought this was a placenta,’ laughed one member while many likened it to a character from kid’s cartoon Spongebob Squarepants.

‘I wondered if they were a flower of a kelp or something,’ another replied.

‘It’s Aquaman’s computer mouse! Please return it to Disney studios,’ joked a third.

Eventually users identified the creature as a sea tulip; a type of ‘sea squirt’ that attaches itself to rocks or shells 80m below the ocean’s surface.

They are a lumpy organism with a spongy outer layer and come in a variety of colours including orange. purple, yellow or pink.

‘Yes I saw them at Step Beach last week. They’re sea tulips – aptly named,’ one savvy beachgoer said.

‘I would say it’s a Sea Tulip. Only visible at very low tides (unless snorkelling) or this has probably broken off a rock,’ a second added.

‘Note to self. Sea tulips look uncannily like a brain with spinal cord still attached,’ another wrote.

Many living around Fairhaven said they had seen the strange sea tulips washed up before.

‘Lots at Anglesea reef at the moment,’ someone reported.

‘When I first saw these, they were en masse and looked like something out of Alien! Modern relatives of prehistoric crinoids, I think, very cool,’  second replied.

‘The ocean never fails to fascinate,’ someone added.