Crested Gecko Morphs

This draft is in preparation and is not yet in force. No trait is recorded under it until The Reptile Club adopts it.

Introduction

This Standard carries the morph terms the Registry records for the crested gecko, Correlophus ciliatus: which terms it recognizes, the class each one belongs to, and how each appears on the Certificate of Pedigree.

The draft distinguishes three categories of morph information.

Registry-recognized trait

A trait whose inheritance the Registry recognizes for this species, on the basis of breeding records with scored outcomes reproduced across unrelated breeder lines. A trait in this class is the only kind for which the Certificate of Pedigree carries a zygosity state. The recognition rests on breeding records rather than on molecular characterization. Reference genome assemblies for the species were published in 2024 and 2025, and no published study has identified the gene or locus responsible for any trait recognized here.

Named trait with inheritance not established

A trait the Registry recognizes by name and records as present on a registered animal, without recognizing how it is inherited. The Registry states no inheritance for a trait in this class, in either direction, and the Certificate of Pedigree carries no zygosity state, no inheritance mode, and no het, possible het, visual, or super language for it. The absence of a stated inheritance is the present limit of the Registry's record and not a finding that the trait is not inherited.

Appearance designation

A visible phenotype recorded to describe how the animal appears. The producer selects it for the animal. Where a designation is a term of art, or where its use among keepers differs from ordinary English, the Registry publishes a definition with it, and the producer selects under that definition. Where the ordinary meaning of the word is its meaning here, the Registry carries the term without defining it. The Registry does not present a designation as a measurement it has taken. A designation in this class carries no inheritance mode and no zygosity state, and its recording is not a finding that the appearance is free of genetic influence.

If adopted, these categories may appear on a Certificate of Pedigree only in the manner allowed by the Standard. They are categorically distinct, and the draft is explicit about which claim would be made when a designation is recorded.

If adopted, this Standard will apply in conjunction with the Pedigree Terms and Lineage Documentation Standard, which establishes the broader vocabulary by which the Registry records pedigree information. Where this draft refers to "the Registry," "a registered animal," or "the Certificate of Pedigree," those terms carry the meanings established in Pedigree Terms.

The evidence standard that applies

The evidence on which a trait is recognized, the classes in which a recognized trait is recorded, and the language used when a trait is published are established in the Trait Recognition and Evidence Standard, which applies to every species for which the Registry publishes structured traits. This Standard does not restate that bar. It applies it, and carries the terms recognized for Correlophus ciliatus under it.

Registry-recognized traits

The Registry recognizes no trait in Correlophus ciliatus at present. Recognition is the crested gecko morph committee's to recommend and The Reptile Club's to publish, and the committee's first ballot is open. This section will list each recognized trait, the inheritance stated for it, and the evidence the recognition rests on, once that ballot has closed and the result is published.

Named traits with inheritance not established

The Registry recognizes no trait by name at present. A name is recognized on the crested gecko morph committee's recommendation and The Reptile Club's publication of it, and the committee's first ballot is open. Recognized names will appear here once that ballot has closed and the result is published.

Appearance designations

The Registry carries no appearance designation at present. Every pattern, spotting, marking and color term is on the committee's first ballot, each voted on its own line with the definition it would be recorded under. The terms that pass will appear here once that ballot has closed and the result is published.

Two conventions govern every appearance designation, whichever ones the Registry comes to carry. Where a definition names no threshold, the Registry sets none, and the designation is recorded on the producer's determination under its definition. Where a designation carries Super or Extreme in its name, the word is part of the market's name for a look and is not a zygosity claim.

Certificate display conventions

The Certificate of Pedigree displays morph information in a single field labeled MORPH, formatted to record Registry-recognized traits, named traits with inheritance not established, and appearance designations in a manner that preserves the categorical distinction between them.

Format

The format follows the convention:

Registry-recognized traits — Named traits with inheritance not established — Appearance designations

The em dash separates the categories. Registry-recognized traits appear first. Named traits with inheritance not established may follow as present-only designations. Appearance designations appear last. An empty category is omitted along with its dash, and the category of what follows a dash is determined by the trait lists in this Standard.

Examples

For an animal with one Registry-recognized trait and appearance designations:

The recognized trait — the appearance designations

For an animal with two Registry-recognized traits and appearance designations:

The first recognized trait, the second — the appearance designations

For an animal with a named trait whose inheritance is not established:

The named trait — the appearance designations

For an animal with appearance designations only, the dash separator is omitted and the morph line consists of those designations:

The appearance designations, with no dash before them

Recording conventions

Registry-recognized traits are listed with visually expressed traits first, recessive visuals then incomplete dominants in the order given in this Standard's recognized-trait list, followed by het designations. Named traits with inheritance not established follow Registry-recognized traits and are recorded as present only.

A het prefix appears immediately before the recessive trait name it qualifies, not after it.

Appearance designations follow the convention established in the Registry's morph assembly grammar. Base color and pattern color are joined with an ampersand, followed by any color scheme designation, the pattern designation, any dorsal variant that modifies it, and any spot designation. A lateral marking closes the line, introduced by "with".

Combination names

The record always holds the constituent traits. An animal with two recognized traits is recorded under both trait names, followed by its appearance designations, and a combination name is never entered in place of them.

Whether the Standard also carries an established combination name as a recognized display term, derived from the constituents for exactly that combination, is on the crested gecko morph committee's first ballot. The answer will appear here once that ballot has closed and the result is published. Breeders may use combination designations freely in their own sales material.

Health concerns

The Registry publishes no welfare finding for any trait in Correlophus ciliatus at present. A welfare finding is the crested gecko morph committee's to recommend and The Reptile Club's to publish, and the committee's first ballot is open. Findings will appear here once that ballot has closed and the result is published.

Designations not recognized

Where the Registry declines to recognize a morph name, it publishes the grounds for declining. It publishes no list of refused names, because a published list of refusals would itself become a register of the designations the Registry had ruled against, which is not a record it keeps.

The grounds are the ones set out in the Trait Recognition and Evidence Standard. The Registry takes no position on whether the underlying biology of a declined designation exists, only on whether the evidence before it supports the claim made for the name. Breeders are free to use any vocabulary they wish in their own listings and records.

An animal whose recorded morph includes a designation the Registry does not carry remains eligible for registration. The morph field on the Certificate of Pedigree may be left blank, or may display only the recognized portion of the producer's record, under the certificate display conventions above.

New trait submissions

The Registry expects evidence regarding morph inheritance in Correlophus ciliatus to continue developing, and a breeder or researcher who believes a trait should be recognized for this species may submit it. What a submission carries is set out in the Trait Recognition and Evidence Standard.

A submission that arrives without that evidence is returned to the party who made it rather than docketed. A docketed submission is the crested gecko morph committee's to rule on, and recognition is not guaranteed. Submissions may be addressed to registry@reptileclub.com.

Revisions

This Standard is supersedable. Future issues may add recognized traits, refine appearance designations, update health-concern notations, or otherwise revise the content based on developing evidence and community practice. When a revised issue is adopted, it supersedes prior issues from its adoption date. Certificates issued under prior issues remain valid as records of what the Registry recognized at the time of issuance, and breeders may optionally update their animals' Registry records to reflect newly recognized traits where applicable.

The Registry's audit log preserves all changes to a recorded animal's morph designations. Original recordings are not destroyed when revisions are made. They remain part of the animal's permanent history alongside any subsequent updates.