Lava is a simple recessive gene and therefore can exist in a hetero or homozygous state with any other Mendelian expressed gene. That's why it is hard to id morphs that carry lava and another hypo gene. Chuck P. and Connie H. developed a way to id the homozygous expression of lava through the use of a microscopic inspection of the animal's scales. This has been very helpful in morph identification when dealing with Het X Het or Het X Homo breedings.
Strawberry also causes problems with identifying hatchlings. Most of the Strawberry animals out in the hobby are a combo of Strawberry and some form of Hypo making it difficult to work with Strawberry alone. Again CC Corns were the ones to take the time and effort to tease the two apart and give us pure Strawberry animals free of any competing hypo genes.
Terri
