Fishes
During the arrangement of the first scientific and artistic exposition in the museum in 1960 the representatives of the Fish class were exhibited together with the amphibian and reptile specimens. In 1985, after the construction of a new hall in the basement premises of the museum, the items of the Fish class were exhibited in the new hall, while the existing exposition was turned into “Amphibians and reptiles” Hall.
The new thematic exposition plan was based on dioramas of stuffed animals and a systematic collection of freshwater and marine species.
The exposition begins with a decorative explanatory board showing the evolution in fish and the geographical distribution of the ichthyofauna nowadays. One of the lower representatives – Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), is also included in the exposition. Real sharks are exhibited in a spatially arranged diorama, including Grey reef shark (Carcharinus sp.), Cat shark (Scyliorhinus sp.), Piked dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias), Angelshark (Squatina sp.), Spotted torpedo (Torpedo marmorata), etc.
The marine specimens are exhibited in a separate showcase, including the most typical Black Sea species, such as Leaping mullet (Liza saliens), Horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus), Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix), European flounder (Platichthys flesus), Long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus ramulosus), Scorpid (Scorpaena porcus), and other species. More than 20 species are included in the exposition.
Representatives of oceanic species and inhabitants of the warm seas are exhibited in a diorama made up of stuffed specimens such as Sea devil (Lophius piscatorius), Flying gurnard (Trigla gurnardus), Morena (Morena helena), Swordfish (Xiphias gladius), Flying fish (Exocoetidae), Long-spined porcupine fish (Diodon sp.), etc. More than 20 species are included in the exposition.
The freshwater ichthyofauna is presented by more than 22 species. Some of the most typical ones are: Brown trout (Salmo trutta), Bardslee trout (Salmo gairdneri irideus), European chub (Leuciscus cephalus), Zander (Stizostedion lucioperca), Ray-finned fish (Barbus cyclolepis), European perch (Perca fluviatilis), Sheatfish (Silurus glanis), etc.
The representatives of the Chondrostei sub-class are shown in a diorama with specimens of Sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) and Ship sturgeon (Acipenser nudventris). In addition, the showcase contains specimens of Eel (Anguilla anguilla), Carp (Cyprinus carpio), Zander (Stizostedion lucioperca), Banded puffer (Colomesus psittacus), etc.
At the end of the exposition there is a board illustrating the distribution of freshwater species in Bulgaria by zones. Portraits of notable researches on Bulgaria’s ichthyofauna – Georgi Shiskov, Pencho Drensky, and Goergi Zashev are hanged there, too.