Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Teleostei (teleosts) >
Eupercaria/misc (Various families in series Eupercaria) >
Labridae (Wrasses) > Corinae
Etymology: Pseudojuloides: Greek, pseudes = false + Greek, iouis = a fish without identification, perhaps some of genus Coris cited by Plinius + Greek, oides = similar to (Ref. 45335); zeus: Named for the Greek god Zeus, its jagged blue stripes which resemble lightning bolts, thus named for the god who liked to cast bolts of lightning at unsuspecting mortals (e.g. the presumptuous physician Asclepius); noun in apposition.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; pelagic-neritic; depth range 80 - 90 m (Ref. 102105). Tropical
Distribution
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri
Western Central Pacific: Micronesia, Marshall Is. and Palau.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 6.8 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 102105)
Short description
Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics
Dorsal spines (total): 9; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 12. This species is distinguished by the following characters: D IX,11; A III,12; pectoral-fin rays 13-14; lateral-line scales 27 (+1 on tail) and 1.5 scales above anterior lateral line to dorsal-fin base; scaleless head; gill rakers 14; a pair of large, forward projecting canine teeth anteriorly in each jaw, the lowers fitting between uppers when mouth is closed; few irregular short pointed but flattened teeth on each side of upper and lower jaws, absence of canine posteriorly at corner of mouth; very elongate body, depth 5.65 - 5.75 in SL; slightly compressed, its body width 1.4 - 1.55 in depth; caudal fin slightly rounded; terminal-phase male in life with yellow-green head and body, prominent jagged-edged iridescent blue stripes 2 along sides of body, a yellow spinous dorsal fin and a large black spot at base of mid-dorsal fin, caudal fin mostly black (Ref. 102105).
Found in deep rubble slope areas on reefs, the first specimen collected by the 1997 ‘Twilight Zone’ Expedition (BPBM, John Earle diving with Richard Pyle) at 80 to 90m depth in the famed Blue Holes dive site in Palau. Several individuals have been collected for the aquarium trade from similar depths in Majuro. However, the particularly deep habitat is very poorly sampled and surveyed and that the species may well have a wider range. Another deep-water wrasse, Cirrhilabrus earlei was also discovered on the same dive in Palau as P. zeus, and is also collected for the aquarium trade by the same commercial collectors in Majuro, and these are mainly shipped to Japan (Ref. 102105).
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Victor, B.C. and J.M.B. Edward, 2015. Pseudojuloides zeus, a new deep-water reef wrasse (Perciformes: Labridae) from Micronesia in the Western Pacific Ocean. J. Ocean Sci. Found. 15:41-52. (Ref. 102105)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Harmless
Human uses
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial
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Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00447 (0.00180 - 0.01107), b=3.11 (2.89 - 3.33), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.3 ±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).