A woman found a creature similar to the monster from the movie “Alien” on the beach (3 photos)

A resident of the American city of Fairhaven found a mysterious creature on a rocky shore. She shared pictures of the find on social networks so that users could help identify something.







Users of the social network put forward many versions: a placenta, something extraterrestrial, and even a character - Mary's mother from the cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants".

“I also saw these on the shore, there were a lot of them, and they looked like something from the movie Alien,” one commentator wrote.

“The ocean never fails to enchant,” wrote another.



Naturalists brought clarity, explaining that the find was nothing more than a sea tulip (pyura spinifera). It is a species of sessile sea squirt (an invertebrate animal) that lives in coastal waters at depths of up to 80 meters.



Sea Tulips come in a variety of colors including white, pink, yellow, orange and purple. Their coloring depends on their relationship with the symbiotic sponge on which they grow.

Despite their name, sea tulips are chordates and not plants. Adult ascidians grow to the surface and do not move, but in their youth they swim freely in the water as larvae. After several days of wandering, they find a suitable place, usually on some rock, and become sedentary.



Through a special hole, ascidians suck water into a special cavity, where food is filtered from the water. After this, the filtered water is released through another hole.

In Japan, sea squirts are bred on underwater plantations, harvested, burned, and ash is obtained, which contains vanadium in higher concentrations than in the ore of many of its deposits.