Macropharyngodon pakoko (what a cool name to say!) is most closely related to M.meleagris (the classic leopard wrasse) and M.geoffroy (the Hawaiian potter’s wrasse).  Like the other eleven Macropharyngdon spp, M.pakoko is sexually dimorphic similar to the differences between male and female M.meleagris.  Differences between M.pakoko (a), M.meleagris (b), and M.geoffroy (c) is much more evident in their juveniles, shown in top-to-bottom order to the right.

The full description of Macropharyngodon pakoko is described in Zootaxa.