Mene oblonga is a species of perciform fish that first appeared in the Monte Bolca

Monte Bolca

Monte Bolca is a lagerstätte near Verona, Italy that was one of the first fossil sites with high quality preservation known to Europeans, and is still an important source of fossils from the Eocene....

 Lagerstatten during the Lutetian

Lutetian

The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage or age in the Eocene. It spans the time between and . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it is sometimes referred to as the Middle Eocene subepoch...

 epoch of the Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

. For a menid, it has a very shallow body, especially in comparison with the sympatric Mene rhombea

Mene rhombea

Mene rhombea was a perciform fish found in the Tethys Ocean during the Eocene . As suggested by their fossils' small, upturned mouths, and by comparison of its living relative, M. maculata, M. rhombea was a planktivore. Their fossils from the laggerstat Monte Bolca are greatly valued....

. Its fossils are very rare in Monte Bolca. A single fossil from the early Oligocene

Oligocene

The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...

, referred to as "Mene oblonga var. pusilla," was found in Chiavon, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

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