moonfish

Open encyclopedia reference

Mene maculata, the moonfish, is the only extant member of the genus Mene and of the family Menidae. The morphology of the moonfish is quite distinct as they have a compressiform (laterally compressed) that is disc-like shape that is almost triangular. They have a small protrusible superior mouth (a mouth that is orientated upwards) with teeth limited to villi-form bands in the jaws. Their maxilla are distinctively shaped and have long ascending processes of the premaxillae. The dorsal fin of the moonfish has a short peak on the anterior side. Overall, it is long and low with thin and flexible rays. The anal fin starts where the pelvic fin is and is very long. The caudal fin is deeply forked. The pectoral fin is shorter than the length of the head, and the pelvic fins are slightly in front of the pectoral fins. The pelvic fin has 1 short spine followed by 5 soft rays. The first 2 soft rays are fused and greatly elongated in the adults, forming a prominent backward-pointing process on the underside of the fish.

Wikipedia contributors, Mene maculata; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:33:49.908426+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Mene maculata (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Name authority

(Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Common name

moonfish

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Family

Menidae

Genus

Mene

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. familyMenidae Fitzinger, 1873
11. genusMene Lacepède, 1803
12. speciesMene maculata (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 1 records assigned to Menidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=218450 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3ZPY3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.