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no, environment won't change the genetic makeup of the fish. But that doesn't mean that phenotypic outcome (how you look) is controlled 100% by genetics. If that were the case, every frag of a given coral would have the same coloration and growth form in every tank. We all know that isn't true. And according to the experiences of a few people in the thread I sited, barring can be affected by rearing conditions- that is, if you rear one clutch from the same parents under different conditions you can selectively see different misbarring. I'm not trying to say that it is always the same for every frye each time, just that a component of bar formation is responsive to environment. That may be why you see so few "snowflake" occellaris- even if environmental manipulations during development are just right, you don't see the same misbar patterns coming through on all frye. If the snowflake color morph were a simle genetic trait, all or most frye from a clutch would show the pattern. Their scarcity suggests otherwise.
Perhaps it is a combination of the two in this case, and TMK ain't talking.
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Mark
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