Mene

The moonfish of the genus Mene, the sole extant genus of the family Menidae, are disk-shaped fish which bear a vague resemblance to gourami, thanks to their lateral compression and thread-like pelvic fins. Today, the genus is represented only by Mene maculata of the Indo-Pacific, where it is a popular food fish, especially in the Philippines, where it is known as bilong-bilong, chabita, hiwas or tahas.

A picture published with the record for Mene.

(c) Austin 0201, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
MenidaePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes

Time the record covers

At least 50 million years on record.

The record covers at least 61.66 Mya to 11.63 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 66 Mya to 5.333 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 0 of 15 occurrencesPaleocene — about 2 of 15 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 6 of 15 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 1 of 15 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 6 of 15 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 15 occurrences67–65 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences65–63 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences63–61 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences61–59 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences59–57 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences55–52 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 1 occurrence38–36 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 1 occurrence21–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–15 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–10 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences10–8.3 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences8.3–6.2 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences6.2–4.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences61.66 Mya11.63 Mya67 Mya4 Mya

15 occurrences of Mene on record, most of them in the Eocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

15 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

5 formations

Cook Mountain — 30.03°N, 97.07°WCook Mountain — 31.33°N, 95.52°WCantaure — 11.97°N, 70.02°WMiretrain Marl — 43.56°N, 1.11°WDanata — 38.61°N, 56.88°EMakrilia — 35.04°N, 25.76°E

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The named rock units Mene has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 9 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Mene and its relatives

Eocene

Where Mene and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

519 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 12 sites for Mene, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

11 references

Each of the 15 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Mene

Credit
(c) Austin 0201, some rights reserved (CC BY)
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Mene maculata · KU:KUI:41593

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMenidae through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Lacépède 1803