A mysterious sea creature with a bloated body and human-like lips has washed up on a beach in Australia, leaving locals stunned.

Beachgoer Drew Lambert and his friend found the weird alien-like sea animal between seaweeds while taking a walk on Sydney's Bondi Beach on Tuesday.

"[I thought] oh my god, that's weird. I just looked at it and say 'What the hell does this fish have human lips on it? It looked like it was puckering up for a kiss," Lambert told Yahoo News Australia.

He initially thought it might be a shark as it had a tail. "I thought maybe it was some kind of weird shark [but] The mouth is the underside. It has grey leather-like skin like a shark. But it doesn’t have a top dorsal fin like a shark, so I’m really confused," Lambert described.

Since he could not identify the sea creature, he posted a video of the encounter on his Facebook page, asking for help from the public. The creature was already dead when the beachgoers spotted it.

Many people came up with speculations after watching the video on his page. "The closest thing I can think of is a juvenile sunfish – but the beak has me stumped," one user wrote.

A few others suggested that it could be a Coffin Ray, also known as Australian numb fish, which produces electric shocks when touched.

Followers of a local Facebook group said the creature could be a stingray. They said the animal might have swollen up and its tail likely coiled after it died.

Laetitia Hannan, a supervisor at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, identified the creature as a numb ray or coffin ray, a species that she said is not locally endangered.

Coffin Ray is endemic to Australian waters and produces electric rays from its fins to incapacitate its prey and keep out predators. They are found in shallow bays and estuaries and also in deep waters.

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representational image pixabay
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