# Mene
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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mene
> Source revision: 1337548701
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{{Short description|Genus of ray-finned fishes}}
{{other uses|Mene (disambiguation)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Razor Moonfish, 261台灣宜蘭縣頭城鎮大溪漁港 imported from iNaturalist photo 138975439.png
| image_caption = ''[Mene maculata](/source/Mene_maculata)''
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|58.7|0}} [Thanetian](/source/Thanetian) to Present[{{cite journal
|last=Sepkoski
|first=Jack
|title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera
|journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology
|volume=364
|page=560
|year=2002
|url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class
|accessdate=2007-12-25
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723131237/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class
|archivedate=2011-07-23
}}]
| display_parents = 2
| parent_authority = [Fitzinger](/source/Leopold_Fitzinger), 1873
| taxon = Mene
| authority = [Lacépède](/source/Bernard_Germain_de_Lac%C3%A9p%C3%A8de), 1803
| synonyms = * ''Meneus'' Rafinesque, 1815
* ''Gasteronemus'' Agassiz, 1833
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = *''[Mene maculata](/source/Mene_maculata)''
*{{extinct}}''[Mene rhombea](/source/Mene_rhombea)''
*{{extinct}}''[Mene purdyi](/source/Mene_purdyi)''
*{{extinct}}''[Mene oblonga](/source/Mene_oblonga)''
*{{extinct}}''[Mene phosphatica](/source/Mene_phosphatica)''
*{{extinct}}''[Mene triangulum](/source/Mene_triangulum)''
*{{extinct}}''[Mene novaehispaniae](/source/Mene_novaehispaniae)''
*{{extinct}}?''[Mene kapurdiensis](/source/Leiomene_kapurdiensis)''
}}
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](/source/gourami), thanks to their lateral compression and thread-like [pelvic fin](/source/pelvic_fin)s. Today, the genus is represented only by ''[Mene maculata](/source/Mene_maculata)'' of the [Indo-Pacific](/source/Indo-Pacific), where it is a popular food fish, especially in the [Philippines](/source/Philippines), where it is known as ''bilong-bilong'', ''chabita'', ''hiwas'' or ''tahas''.[Small-scale fisheries of San Miguel Bay, Philippines: options for management and research. {{ISBN|971-10-2208-7}}.]
==Taxonomy==
Anatomical and recent molecular studies strongly suggest a relationship with the [pomfret](/source/pomfret)s, [dolphinfish](/source/dolphinfish)es, [remora](/source/remora)s and the [jacks](/source/Carangidae) in the [order](/source/Order_(biology)) [Carangiformes](/source/Carangiformes).[{{cite book |title=Fishes of the World |edition=5th |author1=J. S. Nelson |author2=T. C. Grande |author3=M. V. H. Wilson |year=2016 |pages=380 |publisher=Wiley |ISBN= 978-1-118-34233-6 |url=https://sites.google.com/site/fotw5th/ }}]
===Fossil record===
As a genus, ''Mene'' has a long fossil history, with species found in marine sediments throughout the [Cenozoic Era](/source/Cenozoic_Era).[Matt Friedman, and G. David Johnson. “A New Species of Mene (Perciformes: Menidae) from the Paleocene of South America, with Notes on Paleoenvironment and a Brief Review of Menid Fishes.” Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 25, no. 4, 2005, pp. 770–83. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4524505.] The earliest accepted species, ''[M. purdyi](/source/Mene_purdyi)'' from the [Paleocene](/source/Paleocene) of Peru, resemble later species, such as ''[M. rhombea](/source/Mene_rhombea)'' of the [Monte Bolca](/source/Monte_Bolca) [lagerstätte](/source/lagerst%C3%A4tte), and even the living species, ''M. maculata''. Experts remain undecided whether the [Tunisia](/source/Tunisia)n species, ''[M. phosphatica](/source/Mene_phosphatica)'' is from the Lower Paleocene, thus making it older than ''M. purdyi'', or whether it is from the [Ypresian](/source/Ypresian) epoch of the Eocene. Almost all of the species are known primarily from the [Paleogene](/source/Paleogene); the [Neogene](/source/Neogene) record is rather sparse, if not totally nonexistent, with some [otolith](/source/otolith)s found in [Miocene](/source/Miocene) [strata](/source/strata), and no whole or even partial specimens known from [Pliocene](/source/Pliocene) or [Pleistocene](/source/Pleistocene) strata.
The first species of the genus to be described was not the extant ''M. maculata'', but rather the extinct fossil species ''[Mene rhombea](/source/Mene_rhombea)''; however, ''M. rhombea'' was not initially classified in ''Mene'', with the genus name being coined for the extant species.