Mourning Gecko Types: Clones, Lineages and Look Alikes

Mourning gecko types refer to the clonal lineages within Lepidodactylus lugubris. They are not color morphs, the way keepers use that word for leopard geckos or crested geckos. Every mourning gecko in a lineage is a near identical clone of its mother.

The differences between lineages come from separate hybridization events in the species’ ancestry, not from selective breeding.

This guide covers what a clonal lineage is, why rare males show up, how the species reached such a huge range, and which other small geckos get mistaken for it. For day to day husbandry, see the mourning gecko overview.

What Mourning Gecko Types Actually Means

Lepidodactylus lugubris reproduces almost entirely by parthenogenesis. Females lay fertile eggs without mating. Every hatchling is a clone of the mother, so there is no genetic mixing between individuals.

Because of this, keepers cannot select for new colors the way breeders do with morphs in other gecko species. What does exist is a set of separate clonal lineages. Each one traces back to its own founding hybridization event.

Peer reviewed research on laboratory colonies has documented at least two named lineages, called A and B. These occur in both diploid animals with 44 chromosomes and triploid animals with 66 chromosomes. A gecko sold simply as a mourning gecko could belong to either lineage, and most sellers do not track which one they offer.

How the Clonal Lineages Formed

The mourning gecko did not simply stop needing males on its own. Genetic studies trace its clonal lineages to separate hybridization events. These crosses happened between Lepidodactylus moestus and an as yet undescribed Lepidodactylus species from the South Pacific.

Each successful cross produced a new, self sustaining clonal line. That is why more than one lineage exists today. This hybrid origin also explains the fixed reproductive output of the species.

Regardless of lineage, females lay a clutch of exactly two eggs at a time. They can repeat this through the year in warm, stable conditions. For more on egg laying and incubation, see the mourning gecko breeding page.

Do the Clones Look Different From Each Other?

Keepers often ask whether a lighter or more strongly patterned gecko is a distinct type. The honest answer is that the published record on this is thin. A lab colony study found that visible variation between clonal lineages appears negligible at the same life stage.

Typical wild coloring includes brown stripes from the snout to the ears. A series of dorsal marks shaped like a V or a W runs down the back over a tan to grayish base. That base color can darken or lighten with mood, temperature and time of day.

This color shifting within a single animal is well documented. It is not evidence of a separate lineage. Any claim of a fixed, breedable high color mourning gecko type should be treated with skepticism until better data exists.

Rare Males: What They Are and Why They Exist

Occasional male mourning geckos do turn up, both in the wild and in captive colonies. Researchers studying laboratory populations describe these males as extremely rare. They are also typically infertile, so they do not restore normal two sex reproduction to a colony.

A male showing up in a mourning gecko group is a genetic curiosity. It is not the start of a breeding program. Because the species does not depend on males to reproduce, a single stowaway female is enough to found an entire new population elsewhere.

Pacific and Indian Ocean Range, Spread by Shipping

Lepidodactylus lugubris is native to coastal Southeast Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific region. It occurs naturally across nearly all Pacific islands. From that native range, human commerce and shipping carried it to the Hawaiian Islands and many other Pacific locations well outside its original distribution.

The species has also reached the Western Hemisphere. Documented introductions include North Bimini in the Bahamas in March 2016, and New Providence in the Bahamas in February and August 2015. Populations are also confirmed in Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba and Guadeloupe.

Researchers link these arrivals to plants or cargo shipped in from outside sources. A single deliberate release is unlikely to explain the pattern. Older introductions go back further still.

A population on Big Corn Island, Nicaragua was first reported in 1976. More recent records include Guadeloupe in 2010, Bonaire, and Martinique. A July 2022 survey on Martinique found sixteen individuals, along with feces and eggs across four separate structures, showing an already established colony.

Two traits make this spread possible. One is the parthenogenetic reproduction covered above. The other is the egg itself, which is rigid shelled and resists both saltwater exposure and drying out.

That trait lets a clutch survive stowed away in cargo or on plant material long enough to found a population somewhere new.

Lookalike Geckos Kept or Found as Stowaways

Mourning geckos are small, plainly patterned and widely traveled. Several other small geckos get confused with them, sometimes even by researchers before closer inspection. The clearest documented case comes from the Bahamas.

There, mourning geckos were initially mistaken for tropical house geckos, Hemidactylus mabouia. Specimens were later examined more closely and correctly identified. That mix up shows how easily the two species can be confused in the field.

Another regular source of confusion is the Indo-Pacific gecko, Hemidactylus garnotii. It is also parthenogenetic, and it was the first parthenogenetic gecko recorded on New Providence, back in 1992. Mourning geckos turned up on the same island only years later.

The two species share a similar small size and a similar all female strategy. That overlap is exactly why they get mixed up in the field. Careful examination, not a glance, is what separates them.

Other Lepidodactylus geckos are less a lookalike problem and more a family resemblance. Lepidodactylus moestus and the still undescribed South Pacific species behind the mourning gecko’s hybrid origin are close genetic relatives. They are told apart mainly through genetics, not an obvious field mark.

Hemiphyllodactylus typus, the Indo-Pacific tree gecko, is a slender gecko sometimes kept or encountered as a stowaway. It gets mentioned alongside mourning geckos for its similar size and habits. None of the sources opened for this guide give measured identification features for it, so any claimed field distinction from that species is left out here rather than guessed.

Care, Diet and Breeding at a Glance

Whatever lineage a mourning gecko belongs to, husbandry needs are the same across the species. For enclosure size, plants, humidity and cleaning routines, see the full mourning gecko care guide.

Tank setup details, including glass versus screen options and planting density, are on the enclosure page.

Lamp choice and temperature gradients are covered separately on the heating and lighting page.

Diet is uniform across lineages. It is built around small insects and a commercial gecko diet powder, not anything tied to a particular clone. The Merck Veterinary Manual’s general rule for insectivorous geckos applies to every clone alike: feeders gut loaded on a calcium rich diet and dusted with a calcium supplement just before feeding.

The mourning gecko diet page covers feeding schedules in detail.

Breeding a mourning gecko group means managing egg laying sites and incubation temperature. It does not mean selecting for a lineage, since visible differences between clones are minimal at best. Broader background on gecko reproduction is on the gecko breeding page.

Mourning Gecko Types Versus Morphs and Species

Because “type” gets used loosely in the hobby, it helps to separate three ideas. A subspecies is a taxonomically recognized population, which mourning geckos do not currently have. A morph is a selectively bred color or pattern variant, which requires two sex reproduction.

A clonal lineage is a genetically distinct clone group with a separate origin. It is the only one of these three that actually exists among mourning gecko types. For more on how herpetoculture uses these terms across different lizards, see the types of lizards guide.

The genetics behind true color and pattern morphs, as opposed to clonal variation, are explained on the morph genetics page.

The wider gecko species hub is also useful for comparing this species against relatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there official mourning gecko types sold as color morphs?

No. The species reproduces by parthenogenesis rather than sexual breeding, so there is no way to select and fix new colors the way morphs work in leopard geckos or crested geckos. Pattern variation seen among mourning gecko types in the pet trade reflects normal color shifting, not a bred morph.

How many clonal lineages of mourning gecko have researchers identified?

Laboratory colony studies have documented at least two named lineages, called A and B, in both diploid and triploid forms. Wild populations across the Pacific and Indian Oceans almost certainly include additional lineages that have not been separately cataloged.

Can mourning geckos breed with the lookalike species they are confused with?

No. As an obligate parthenogenetic species, Lepidodactylus lugubris does not interbreed with unrelated genera such as Hemidactylus house geckos. The hybridization that created its clonal lineages happened deep in its evolutionary history, between ancestral Lepidodactylus species.

Is the mourning gecko native to Hawaii?

No. Its native range is coastal Southeast Asia and the broader Indo-Pacific. It reached Hawaii and many other Pacific locations through human shipping and commerce, not natural range expansion.

What allows mourning gecko eggs to survive long distance transport?

The eggs have rigid shells that resist both saltwater exposure and drying out. A clutch can survive stowed in cargo or plant material for extended periods. That trait, plus needing only one female to found a colony, explains the species’ unusually wide introduced range.

Which introduced gecko is most often confused with the mourning gecko in the field?

The Indo-Pacific gecko, Hemidactylus garnotii, is the clearest documented case. It is also parthenogenetic and was recorded on New Providence in the Bahamas years before mourning geckos were confirmed there. The two are similar enough in size and color to need close inspection.