It looks like something from a science fiction movie.

But neon blue creature that looks like a tie-dyed is very real - and recently washed up on an Australian beach.

The blobby creature was spotted on the foreshore at Broadbent beach by a local who shot video of it wriggling in the sand.

Commonly - and suitably - known as a Blue Dragon, the rare sea creature eats blue bottle jellyfish, and along with a striking, alien appearance, packs a sting of its own.

This particular Blue Dragon was filmed writhing on the sand and moving what appears to be its head at Broadbeach, Queensland, by Lucinda Fry, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

Griffith University marine invertebrates expert Kylie Pitt said the creature was actually a sea slug, called Glaucus atlanticus.

'I would not recommend anyone pick them up because they can have a painful sting,' she told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Feeding on blue bottles blown onto Gold Coast beaches by easterly winds, the 'weird' sea slugs floated upside down, using the surface tension of the water to move.

Consuming the stinging jellyfish did not bother them, she said.

Instead of eating sting cells, they were stored on the outside of the blue dragons' body.

The blue dragon is also a nudibranch - a sea creature which sheds its shell after its larval said.

They are reportedly found along Australia's east coast, and around the world in temperate and tropical waters.

Although it is hard to tell the size of the blue dragon from the video, the creatures usually grow to about 3-4cm in length.