site.btaExposition Highlights Antarctica's Biodiversity

November 29 (BTA) - A renovated exposition at Sofia's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) highlighting biodiversity in Antarctica will re-open on Wednesday to mark Antarctica Day, celebrated on December 1, NMNH said on Monday.

The exposition will feature fishes, birds, marine invertebrates and some alga and lichen species gathered by the 27th and 28th Bulgarian Antarctic Expeditions, conducted, respectively, from November 2018 to March 2019 and from November 2019 to March 2020. The show is being organized by the NMNH, the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute and the Department of General and Applied Hydrobiology at Sofia University's Biology Faculty.

The exhibits will include two specimens of the unique icefish, which belongs to the only vertebrate family with colourless blood resulting from the loss of hemoglobin. Visitors will also be able to see five notothen fish species which have special antifreeze glycoproteins in their blood to prevent the formation of ice crystals in body fluids. The Adelie penguin, a rare visitor to the area around the Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island, will go on display as well.

Another interesting exhibit is the giant Antarctic marine worm, which grows more than 1 metre in length. It produces a range of neurotoxins to guard it against predators. These substances can potentially be used to treat some serious diseases, including Alzheimer's. DD/VE

Photo: National Museum of Natural History