Hey Karl,
No, you didn't miss anything at all. It's all a matter of semantics really and this is prime example of a difference between herp enthusiasts in the USA as compared to the same people that share the same passion in other countries. (RichH and I just spoke of this a little while ago)
In Europe, for example, a morph is considered to be anything outside the "normal" of the species. For example, what we call a hi-white individual may be coined as hi-white or colored morph in Germany or Holland.
In the USA, we currently do not recognize any morphs of ruthveni other than the simple variations that are seen from time to time. What I mean is that in some areas, say Bienville Parish for example, there tends to be some specimens of ruthveni that show a pronounced reddish tone. American herpers call this a red phase. In reality it's really just a prime example of what scientific literature is referring to when it coins ruthveni as "highly variable."
Hope that helps, cheers!
--Brian
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--Brian Scott

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