diff --git a/bin/regression.sh b/bin/regression.sh
index 740926d..008e0f3 100755
--- a/bin/regression.sh
+++ b/bin/regression.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ G='\e[1;32m'
 R='\e[1;31m'
 
 echo "start annotations..."
-time -p julia --project=. --threads=8 "$@" chloe.jl -l info annotate -o testo --numgsrefs 16 --numchloerefs 0  testfa/*.fa
+time -p julia --project=. --threads=8 "$@" chloe.jl -l info annotate -o testo --numgsrefs 16 testfa/*.fa
 for f in $(ls testo)
 do 
     echo "diffing $f"
diff --git a/bin/rregression.sh b/bin/rregression.sh
index bf28492..ff918ab 100755
--- a/bin/rregression.sh
+++ b/bin/rregression.sh
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ done
 echo -e "index: ${index[@]}: $TOTAL/${C}$n${O}"
 echo "start annotations with: ${todo[@]}"
 
-time -p julia --threads=8 --project=. "$@" chloe.jl -l warn annotate -o testo --numgsrefs 16 --numchloerefs 0 "${todo[@]}"
+time -p julia --threads=8 --project=. "$@" chloe.jl -l warn annotate -o testo --numgsrefs 16 "${todo[@]}"
 
 for idx in ${index[@]}
 do
diff --git a/bin/tregression.sh b/bin/tregression.sh
index 8d1c38f..42a4152 100755
--- a/bin/tregression.sh
+++ b/bin/tregression.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ C='\e[1;36m' # bold cyan
 A='\e[1;30m' # grey
 
 echo -e "testing ${C}${#}${O} files"
-time -p julia --threads=8 --project=. chloe.jl -l warn annotate -o testo --numgsrefs 16 --numchloerefs 0 "$@"
+time -p julia --threads=8 --project=. chloe.jl -l warn annotate -o testo --numgsrefs 16 "$@"
 
 for f in "$@"
 do
diff --git a/src/annotate_genomes.jl b/src/annotate_genomes.jl
index da1c795..8b3d30b 100644
--- a/src/annotate_genomes.jl
+++ b/src/annotate_genomes.jl
@@ -346,12 +346,7 @@ function annotate_one_worker(db::AbstractReferenceDb,
         append!(refpicks, searchhashes(hash, refhashes)[1:numrefs])
     end
 
-    # find closest chloe references
-    refhashes = get_chloeminhashes(db, config)
-    if !isnothing(refhashes)
-        numrefs = min(config.numchloerefs, length(refhashes))
-        append!(refpicks, searchhashes(hash, refhashes)[1:numrefs])
-    end
+
     numrefs = length(refpicks)
     t2 = time_ns()
 
diff --git a/src/dist/chloe_cmd.jl b/src/dist/chloe_cmd.jl
index d06a9e7..e060a27 100644
--- a/src/dist/chloe_cmd.jl
+++ b/src/dist/chloe_cmd.jl
@@ -16,11 +16,11 @@ function quiet_metafmt(level, _module, group, id, file, line)
     return color, prefix, ""
 end
 
-function chloe(; gsrefsdir="default", chloerefsdir="default", numgsrefs=DEFAULT_NUMGSREFS, numchloerefs=DEFAULT_NUMGSREFS, fasta_files=String[],
+function chloe(; gsrefsdir="default", numgsrefs=DEFAULT_NUMGSREFS, fasta_files=String[],
     template="default", sensitivity=DEFAULT_SENSITIVITY,
     output::Union{Nothing,String}=nothing, gff::Bool=false, nofilter::Bool=false)
-    db = Annotator.ReferenceDb(; gsrefsdir=gsrefsdir, chloerefsdir=chloerefsdir, template=template)
-    config = Annotator.ChloeConfig(; numgsrefs=numgsrefs, numchloerefs=numchloerefs, sensitivity=sensitivity, to_gff3=gff, nofilter=nofilter)
+    db = Annotator.ReferenceDb(; gsrefsdir=gsrefsdir, template=template)
+    config = Annotator.ChloeConfig(; numgsrefs=numgsrefs, sensitivity=sensitivity, to_gff3=gff, nofilter=nofilter)
     Annotator.annotate(db, fasta_files, config, output)
 end
 
@@ -86,19 +86,14 @@ function getargs()
         "--reference", "-r"
         arg_type = String
         default = "default"
-        dest_name = "chloerefsdir"
+        dest_name = "gsrefsdir"
         metavar = "DIRECTORY"
-        help = "reference directory [default: $(DEFAULT_CHLOEREFS)]"
+        help = "reference directory [default: $(DEFAULT_GSREFS)]"
         "--numgsrefs"
         arg_type = Int
         default = DEFAULT_NUMGSREFS
         dest_name = "numgsrefs"
         help = "number of references to compare to [default: $(DEFAULT_NUMGSREFS)]"
-        "--numchloerefs"
-        arg_type = Int
-        default = DEFAULT_NUMCHLOEREFS
-        dest_name = "numchloerefs"
-        help = "number of references to compare to [default: $(DEFAULT_NUMCHLOEREFS)]"
         "--template", "-t"
         arg_type = String
         default = "default"
diff --git a/src/dist/chloe_distributed.jl b/src/dist/chloe_distributed.jl
index 5dd3852..d76d421 100644
--- a/src/dist/chloe_distributed.jl
+++ b/src/dist/chloe_distributed.jl
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ function create_responder(apispecs::Vector{Function}, addr::String, ctx::ZMQ.Con
 end
 
 function arm_procs_full(procs, backend::MayBeString=nothing, level::String="info";
-    gsrefsdir="default", chloerefsdir="default", template="default")
+    gsrefsdir="default", template="default")
 
     @everywhere procs begin
         include(joinpath($REPO_DIR, "annotate_genomes.jl"))
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ function arm_procs_full(procs, backend::MayBeString=nothing, level::String="info
         include(joinpath($REPO_DIR, "dist/tasks.jl"))
 
         set_global_logger($level, $backend; topic="annotator")
-        global REFERENCE = Annotator.ReferenceDb(; gsrefsdir=$gsrefsdir, chloerefsdir=$chloerefsdir, template=$template)
+        global REFERENCE = Annotator.ReferenceDb(; gsrefsdir=$gsrefsdir, template=$template)
     end
     # [ @spawnat p begin
     #     include(joinpath(REPO_DIR, "annotate_genomes.jl"))
@@ -96,13 +96,13 @@ function arm_procs_full(procs, backend::MayBeString=nothing, level::String="info
 
 end
 function arm_procs(procs, backend::MayBeString=nothing, level::String="info";
-    gsrefsdir="default", chloerefsdir="default", template="default")
+    gsrefsdir="default", template="default")
 
     # use when toplevel has already done
     # @everywhere using Chloe
     @everywhere procs begin
         set_global_logger($level, $backend; topic="annotator")
-        global REFERENCE = Annotator.ReferenceDb(; gsrefsdir=$gsrefsdir, chloerefsdir=$chloerefsdir, template=$template)
+        global REFERENCE = Annotator.ReferenceDb(; gsrefsdir=$gsrefsdir, template=$template)
     end
     # [ @spawnat p begin
     #     set_global_logger(level, backend; topic="annotator")
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ function arm_procs(procs, backend::MayBeString=nothing, level::String="info";
 end
 
 function chloe_distributed(full::Bool=true; gsrefsdir="default", address=ZMQ_WORKER,
-    chloerefsdir="default", template="default", level="warn", workers=3,
+    template="default", level="warn", workers=3,
     backend::MayBeString=nothing, broker::MayBeString=nothing)
 
     if !isnothing(backend)
@@ -124,14 +124,11 @@ function chloe_distributed(full::Bool=true; gsrefsdir="default", address=ZMQ_WOR
     if gsrefsdir == "default"
         gsrefsdir = normpath(joinpath(REPO_DIR, "..", "..", DEFAULT_GSREFS))
     end
-    if chloerefsdir == "default"
-        chloerefsdir = normpath(joinpath(REPO_DIR, "..", "..", DEFAULT_CHLOEREFS))
-    end
     if template == "default"
         template = normpath(joinpath(REPO_DIR, "..", "..", DEFAULT_TEMPLATE))
     end
     # don't wait for workers to find the wrong directory
-    verify_refs(gsrefsdir, chloerefsdir, template)
+    verify_refs(gsrefsdir, template)
 
     # user may have added run with 
     # julia command -p2 etc.
@@ -148,13 +145,13 @@ function chloe_distributed(full::Bool=true; gsrefsdir="default", address=ZMQ_WOR
 
     # arm_procs(procs, reference, backend, level)
     if full
-        arm_procs_full(procs, backend, level; gsrefsdir=gsrefsdir, chloerefsdir=chloerefsdir, template=template)
+        arm_procs_full(procs, backend, level; gsrefsdir=gsrefsdir, template=template)
     else
-        arm_procs(procs, backend, level; gsrefsdir=gsrefsdir, chloerefsdir=chloerefsdir, template=template)
+        arm_procs(procs, backend, level; gsrefsdir=gsrefsdir, template=template)
     end
 
     function arm(new_procs)
-        arm_procs_full(new_procs, backend, level; gsrefsdir=gsrefsdir, chloerefsdir=chloerefsdir, template=template)
+        arm_procs_full(new_procs, backend, level; gsrefsdir=gsrefsdir, template=template)
     end
 
     # it seems impossible to add new workers after the fact
@@ -402,11 +399,6 @@ function get_distributed_args()
         dest_name = "gsrefsdir"
         metavar = "DIRECTORY"
         help = "reference directory [default: $(DEFAULT_GSREFS)]"
-        "--chloerefsdir", "-c"
-        arg_type = String
-        default = "default"
-        dest_name = "chloerefsdir"
-        help = "reference minhashes [default: $(DEFAULT_CHLOEREFS)]"
         "--template", "-t"
         arg_type = String
         default = "default"
diff --git a/src/globals.jl b/src/globals.jl
index 5dd961a..67b1c0d 100644
--- a/src/globals.jl
+++ b/src/globals.jl
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 const REPO_DIR = dirname(@__FILE__)
 const DEFAULT_GSREFS = "chloe_references/gsrefs"
 const DEFAULT_NUMGSREFS = 16
-const DEFAULT_CHLOEREFS = "chloe_references/chloerefs"
-const DEFAULT_NUMCHLOEREFS = 0
 const DEFAULT_TEMPLATE = "chloe_references/templates.tsv"
 const DEFAULT_SENSITIVITY = 0.5
 
diff --git a/src/reference.jl b/src/reference.jl
index c5a1b3b..0bc31a7 100644
--- a/src/reference.jl
+++ b/src/reference.jl
@@ -4,32 +4,26 @@ abstract type AbstractReferenceDb end
 mutable struct ReferenceDb <: AbstractReferenceDb
     lock::ReentrantLock
     gsrefsdir::String
-    chloerefsdir::String
     template_file::String
     templates::Union{Nothing,Dict{String,FeatureTemplate}}
     gsrefhashes::Union{Nothing,Dict{String,Vector{Int64}}}
-    chloerefhashes::Union{Nothing,Dict{String,Vector{Int64}}}
 end
 
 struct ChloeConfig
     numgsrefs::Int
-    numchloerefs::Int
     sensitivity::Real
     to_gff3::Bool
     nofilter::Bool
 end
 
-function ReferenceDb(; gsrefsdir="default", chloerefsdir="default", template="default")::ReferenceDb
+function ReferenceDb(; gsrefsdir="default", template="default")::ReferenceDb
     if gsrefsdir == "default"
         gsrefsdir = normpath(joinpath(REPO_DIR, "..", "..", DEFAULT_GSREFS))
     end
-    if chloerefsdir == "default"
-        chloerefsdir = normpath(joinpath(REPO_DIR, "..", "..", DEFAULT_CHLOEREFS))
-    end
     if template == "default"
         template = normpath(joinpath(REPO_DIR, "..", "..", DEFAULT_TEMPLATE))
     end
-    return ReferenceDb(ReentrantLock(), gsrefsdir, chloerefsdir, template, nothing, nothing, nothing)
+    return ReferenceDb(ReentrantLock(), gsrefsdir, template, nothing, nothing)
 end
 
 function get_templates(db::ReferenceDb)
@@ -51,23 +45,11 @@ function get_gsminhashes(db::ReferenceDb, config::ChloeConfig)
     end
 end
 
-function get_chloeminhashes(db::ReferenceDb, config::ChloeConfig)
-    config.numchloerefs < 1 && return nothing
-    lock(db.lock) do
-        if isnothing(db.chloerefhashes)
-            db.chloerefhashes = readminhashes(normpath(joinpath(db.chloerefsdir, "reference_minhashes.hash")))
-        end
-        return db.chloerefhashes
-    end
-end
 
 function get_single_reference!(db::ReferenceDb, refID::AbstractString, reference_feature_counts::Dict{String,Int})::SingleReference
     path = findfastafile(db.gsrefsdir, refID)
-    if isnothing(path)
-        path = findfastafile(db.chloerefsdir, refID)
-    end
     if isnothing(path) || !isfile(path)
-        msg = "unable to find $(refID) fasta file in $(db.gsrefsdir) or in $(db.chloerefsdir)!"
+        msg = "unable to find $(refID) fasta file in $(db.gsrefsdir)!"
         @error msg
         throw(ArgumentError(msg))
     end
@@ -77,7 +59,7 @@ function get_single_reference!(db::ReferenceDb, refID::AbstractString, reference
         read!(reader, ref)
         sffpath = path[1:findlast('.', path)] * "sff" #assumes fasta files and sff files differ only by the file name extension
         if !isfile(sffpath)
-            msg = "unable to find $(refID) sff file in $(db.gsrefsdir) or in $(db.chloerefsdir)!"
+            msg = "unable to find $(refID) sff file in $(db.gsrefsdir)!"
             @error msg
             throw(ArgumentError(msg))
         end
@@ -87,11 +69,11 @@ function get_single_reference!(db::ReferenceDb, refID::AbstractString, reference
     end
 end
 
-const KWARGS = ["numgsrefs", "numchloerefs", "sensitivity", "to_gff3", "nofilter"]
+const KWARGS = ["numgsrefs", "sensitivity", "to_gff3", "nofilter"]
 
-function ChloeConfig(; numgsrefs=DEFAULT_NUMGSREFS, numchloerefs=DEFAULT_NUMCHLOEREFS, sensitivity=DEFAULT_SENSITIVITY,
+function ChloeConfig(; numgsrefs=DEFAULT_NUMGSREFS, sensitivity=DEFAULT_SENSITIVITY,
     to_gff3::Bool=false, nofilter::Bool=false)
-    return ChloeConfig(numgsrefs, numchloerefs, sensitivity, to_gff3, nofilter)
+    return ChloeConfig(numgsrefs, sensitivity, to_gff3, nofilter)
 end
 
 # needs to be V <: Any since this is comming from a JSON blob
@@ -108,10 +90,10 @@ function ChloeConfig(dict::Dict{String,V} where {V<:Any})
     return ChloeConfig(; Dict(Symbol(k) => cvt(k, v) for (k, v) in dict if k in KWARGS)...)
 end
 function Base.show(io::IO, c::ChloeConfig)
-    print(io, "ChloeConfig[numgsrefs=$(c.numgsrefs), numchloerefs=$(c.numchloerefs) sensitivity=$(c.sensitivity), nofilter=$(c.nofilter)]")
+    print(io, "ChloeConfig[numgsrefs=$(c.numgsrefs), sensitivity=$(c.sensitivity), nofilter=$(c.nofilter)]")
 end
 
-function verify_refs(gsrefsdir, chloerefsdir, template)
+function verify_refs(gsrefsdir, template)
     # used by master process to check reference directory
     # *before* starting worker processes...
     if !isdir(gsrefsdir)
@@ -119,11 +101,6 @@ function verify_refs(gsrefsdir, chloerefsdir, template)
         @error msg
         throw(ArgumentError(msg))
     end
-    # if !isdir(chloerefsdir)
-    #     msg = "Reference directory $(chloerefsdir) is not a directory!"
-    #     @error msg
-    #     throw(ArgumentError(msg))
-    # end
 end
 
 function read_single_reference!(refdir::String, refID::AbstractString, reference_feature_counts::Dict{String,Int})::SingleReference