# Morphs vs Hybrids



## Ohio Cichlid Lover (Feb 27, 2012)

I have not kept very many African Cichlids. I'm mostly a SA & CA cichlids person. There is alot of talk on here about not buying hybrids. I totally agree with that. I've made the mistake a few times and bought fish from the "mixed" tank and had a hard time identifying them. As I looked through the African Cichlid Profile section, I've noticed the word "morph" used often. What is the difference between a "morph" and a "Hybrid"? I know what a hybrid is, but is a morph just a color variation? If it's also a body shape variation or max length varitation, wouldn't that be considered a "hybrid" also??

Just trying to learn....

Van


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

A morph is a pure fish with a _genetic mutation_ causing a variance from the norm. Color morph would be a color variation.

A hybrid is a fish where two different species or collection points mated.

They seem like opposites to me. One species morphing into two. Versus two species combining into one.


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## Ohio Cichlid Lover (Feb 27, 2012)

Ok thank you. I understand what you are saying. One more question...

Monomorphic means there is no difference between male and female. Is this just the color of the fish or is it max size also?


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

In Monomorphic mbuna, the Dominant male is usually larger than the females. In monomorphic Julidochromis, sometimes the female is larger. The larger the fish, the larger the discrepancy between males and females, IMO.


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## m1ke715m (Jul 26, 2012)

monomorphic refers to the color of the fish... males and females will usually be different sizes.. i think cyps the females can get as large as the males eventually... i have some big females


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

m1ke715m said:


> monomorphic refers to the color of the fish... males and females will usually be different sizes.. i think cyps the females can get as large as the males eventually... i have some big females


Cyps, however, are not monomorphic.


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## m1ke715m (Jul 26, 2012)

i meant in general with both dimorphic and monomorphic fish males and females get different size maxs


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## Ohio Cichlid Lover (Feb 27, 2012)

ok..thanks for the info. The info will help when picking what fish I want. I'm not really into a fish species that the male and female are different colors, although sexing them is much easier if they are dimorphic.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

A morph is not a genetic mutation.

Take a look at Aulonocara stuartgranti as a good example. A morph is simply a different colour, of the same species. So, at one location the fish is one colour, and a different morph might be at a different location. There are plenty of examples of this, you could look at Labeotropheus trewavassae, or fuelleborni as other great examples.


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

umm....actually a morph is a genetic mutation as color is a product of gene expression. Difference in color means difference in gene expression brought about by mutation If there were no mutation, there would be no variation. The color variation amongst the different locations is simply different genetic trajectories from a common genetic source.


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

Sorry if my last post sounds condescending, it isn't meant to... genetically speaking though, different color morphs are the result of mutations in genes governing color expression.


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