Teleostei (teleosts) >
Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) >
Labridae (Wrasses) > Corinae
Etymology: Macropharyngodon: Greek, makros = great + Greek, pharyngx = pharynx + Greek,odous = teeth (Ref. 45335); pakoko: Named for the famous Marquesan warrior Pakoko, last chieftain who led the Marquesan resistance to the French during his time (died in 1984); noun in apposition.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; non-migratory; depth range 0 - 42 m (Ref. 97238). Tropical; 7°S - 11°S, 138°W - 141°W (Ref. 97238)
French Polynesia, Marquesas Is.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 7.2 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 97238); 6.0 cm SL (female)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 11. This species is distinguished by the following characters: D IX,11; A III,11; pectoral rays 12 (plus upper rudimentary ray); 2-3 pores on anterior lateral-line scales;17 (15-17) gill rakers. Colour pattern of females: no black spot on chest at base of gill openings; widely-spaced spots on body, especially on head; small bright yellow spots in vertical row on caudal fin; pale pelvic fins with 3 cross-bands (reddish orange to yellow); along the base of anal fin are small reddish spots. Colour pattern of males: green head and body with scales having a dark purplish brown bar, those laterally and ventrally on body with bar preceded by a blue line; curved black humeral blotch outline with iridescent blue followed by a broad and irregular longitudinal band of a dark yellow-orange network superimposed over and adjacent to the bar pattern on scales; head with an anastomosing pattern of red bands edged with dark purple and iridescent blue; cheek with an inverted irregular 'U'-shaped band; upper base of pectoral fin with a small black spot; dorsal and anal fins reddish with blue-ringed green spots with black border and some spots are merging and forming vertical reticulations; caudal fin has reddish reticulations around greenish yellow spots with black borders, the distal margin has a broad red band followed by a black outline then whitish tips on ray; pelvic fin translucent or colored, outermost rays faintly reddish yellow with innermost rays translucent. Colour of juveniles: few irregular black blotches on body with irregular red bars on anal fin broadly joined distally with yellow; a small black spot instead of an ocellus posteriorly on the dorsal fin and no large back spots and ocellus on the anal fin (Ref. 97238).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: compressed.
Collected by hand nets and rotenone (Ref. 97238).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Oviparous, distinct pairing during breeding (Ref. 205).
Delrieu-Trottin, E,, J.T. Williams and S. Planes, 2014. Macropharyngodon pakoko, a new species of wrasse (Teleostei: Labridae) endemic to the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. Zootaxa 3857(3):433-443. (Ref. 97238)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5002 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00977 (0.00466 - 0.02049), b=3.07 (2.90 - 3.24), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.4 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
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