what is the difference between mean and filter function in matlab?

i am trying to apply moving average filter to incoming data from the serial port(real time). i referred to some tutorial, their they implemented mean function

    taps = 3;
    buf_len = 100;
    gxdataFilt = zeros(buf_len,1);
    [gx,gy,gz] =  readAcc(accelerometer);
    gxdata = [gxdata(2:end); gx];
    gxdataFilt = [gxdataFilt(2:end) ; mean(gxdata(buf_len : -1 : buf_len-taps +1))];

in order to have moving average filter can i replace "mean" with "filter" function, with proper arguments?