Gargoyle Gecko Morphs
Gecko morphs are a variation in color, pattern, or other physical features of the gecko. They are a combination of phenotypes (physical traits). Selective breeding has created many morphs that are highly sought after, and others can be caused by random mutations. While the base morph of a gargoyle gecko is a black or brown pigmentation with a striped or reticulated pattern, these geckos can also come in reds, oranges, yellows, and more.
What is a gargoyle gecko?
A gargoyle gecko, or New Caledonian bumpy gecko, is a species of gecko from New Caledonia. They used to be among the rarest species of gecko in captivity, but they've now been more standardized thanks to breeders.
They get their name from the bony horn-like protrusions on their head. Some geckos have larger knobs than others. While newborn gargoyle geckos are born with smooth heads, as they grow their horns begin to protrude and grow.
Capable of minor color changes, these geckos can "fire up" and "fire down" by changing the contrast of their colors, like brightening reds and darkening greys. They do this based on their activity, mood, and stress. They might fire up when they become more active and fire down when they're ready to settle down for sleep.
What morphs can gargoyle geckos have?
Eye Spectacles
Selective breeders have introduced a great variety of colors and variations between gargoyle geckos. Most affect the gecko's patterning and colors, but some can also present in the eyes. A gecko might have blue eyes or even an almost black iris, and eye spectacles - the raised scales around the eye - can also be a very vivid color.
Phantom gargoyle gecko
Phantom gargoyle geckos are characterized by their rare dark irises. This morph is only about the eyes. A phantom morph might have two black eyes, one black eye, two dark grey eyes, or one dark grey eye. Most of these geckos develop the dark iris over time and do not showcase it as juveniles.
Pattern morphs
The reticulated base pattern is very net- or web-like with very natural marbling. This is better for camouflage. Striped, or banded, patterns are long streaks that go on top of the reticulated pattern. These patterns are typically brown or black, changing contrast when fired up or down. Geckos with reduced reticulated patterns under their thinner stripes are referred to as "alterna" morphs.
Patternless gargoyle gecko
Also known as the uniform morph, the patternless morph is characterized by very faded patterns so it looks like it has no pattern. The more faded the pattern, the rarer this morph is and the more expensive the gecko will be. They often look very white, which leads to some calling them the ghost morph.
Mosaic gargoyle gecko
The mosaic gargoyle geckos are harder to distinguish because they have large and broad banding across their body with traces of stripes. Some geckos with the mosaic morph are "high expression" with very defined and bold markings, while "lower expression" mosaic morphs have mostly striped or reticulated patterning.
Striped gargoyle gecko
Striped gargoyle geckos have dark lines running from the head to the end of the tail or across the tail. Their stripes do not need to be solid, with broken or mottled lines resembling stripes counting for this morph.
Superstripe gargoyle gecko
These geckos have one thick dorsal stripe running from the head to the tail base with thick stripes running down the mid-lateral area. The super-stripe gargoyle gecko has a long, refined stripe down the middle of the tail, though this isn't present when a tail is regenerated.
Aberrant striped gargoyle gecko
The aberrant striped gargoyle geckos have more zig-zaggy lines which are very broken up. It's largely thought that by breeding two aberrant striped morphs together, you will produce offspring with reticulated patterns instead.
Black and white striped gargoyle gecko
Black and white striped gargoyle geckos have high contrast between their base color and pattern color. They have black lines running down their body.
Color morphs
Gargoyle geckos usually have a base color, ranging from red, orange, white, brown, and even a pastel color that looks very faded. The pastel base color does not fire up, remaining very pale. While red and orange morphs are separate, they can blend together (such as creating a "bacon" morph). Some color morphs focus on background colors and others are pattern color morphs.
Blotched gargoyle gecko
Blotched geckos are characterized by random blotches over the top of reticulated patterning. There can also be "super blotched" morphs where the gecko is mostly covered in patches, which can increase as the gecko matures.
Red / orange striped gargoyle gecko
Striped gargoyle geckos with red or orange color morphs have their stripes very bold, vivid colors between the red and orange spectrum. Sometimes they have multiple colors of red or orange shades.
Six striped gargoyle gecko
The six-striped gecko has two red or orange mid-dorsal lines, two outer dorsal lines, and two lateral lines. Some geckos with this morph may have color on their cheeks that trails to the dorsal and lateral stripes.
Melanistic gargoyle gecko
Alternatively called the black gargoyle gecko morph, melanistic geckos are covered in black at around 60-80%. They can either be reticulated or striped.
Brown gargoyle gecko
Brown gargoyle geckos are the most common color morph as this is their most natural pigmentation in the wild. They often have a yellow background when fired down. Some variants may include some red that looks rusty brown.
Other gargoyle gecko morphs
There are even more morphs out there that don't quite fit into the above categories. Thought to be oddball gargoyle geckos, these mutations aren't yet proven to be genetic morphs. Phantom gargoyle geckos sometimes fit in this category as it isn't entirely clear whether their dark eyes are genetic or not. Because there are so many combinations of gecko morphs due to the combination of pattern morphs and color morphs, there might be even more. Yellow striped gargoyle geckos are also on the rise, though yellow variants can wash out as the gecko ages.