Cribrinopsis Crassa vs. "mini-BTA" identification

Niklas123321 · May 28, 2021

So, there seems to be a lot of confusion about this anemone and I can't really find any english sources on this.
On german reef-keeping sites you can find discussions about a small, green BTA anemone often either identified as Cribrinopsis Crassa or just Entacmaea sp. , with the consensus being that it has to be some sort of Entacmaea variant, as Cribrinopsis Crassa is actually endemic to the mediterranean and thus used to colder waters.

They are kind of desireable, especially for small tanks, as they have the reputation to stay smaller than regular Entacmaea Quadricolor BTAs, with a diameter not exceeding 10cm/4 inches.
Does anyone know more about this?

https://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/tiere/11253_Cribrinopsis_crassa.htm

This species, endemic to the Mediterranean, was described by Andres as Bunodes crassus in 1884 and assigned to Cribrinopsis under Cribrinopsis crassa by Schmidt in 1972.

Occurrences of Cribrinopsis crassa are mainly documented from the western Mediterranean and the Adriatic, and recently also from the Aegean. In the meantime, other areas of distribution have been added. The anemone has up to 96 tentacles (60-90). It prefers a life on hard substrates with holes and crevices, can also be found on stones in Neptune grass meadows (Posidonia oceanica).

The species known in the aquarium hobby as "Cribrinopsis crassa" has similar but not identical tentacles and a clearly different colored foot. Cribrinopsis crassa has a light yellowish base with red spots! Unfortunately, the anemone, incorrectly known as C. crassa in aquaristic circles, could not be precisely identified and is currently found under Entacmaea sp.

https://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/tiere/1840_Entacmaea_sp.htm

Entacmaea sp. (no Cribrinopsis crassa !!!)

A reliable determination of the anemones known as "Cribrinopsis crassa" in saltwater aquariums has unfortunately not yet been successful. We would like to point out that the anemones shown are definitely not Cribrinopsis crassa. This determination / designation is simply wrong.

Cribrinopsis crassa is a species endemic to the Mediterranean that has similar tentacles, vesicular and the same colors, but differs optically and has a completely different colored base, light yellowish with red spots.

anemoneanatomy · May 28, 2021

From what I gather, they are in the hobby in the US, but they aren't generally identified as such. They are usually just called mini-BTAs here. They are also just not that common here, in general, which is a bummer because I would love to have some :)

chizerbunoi · May 28, 2021

I have kept the Cribrinopsis Crassa (mini green) for close to 5 years now. They do range in size and the largest I have gets to 6”. When your parameters are not stable (young tank) they split very frequently like bunnies. Care is pretty much the same as regular BTA. I always see them bubble up unless BTA which can go stringy with no bulbs.

Niklas123321 · May 29, 2021

chizerbunoi said:
I have kept the Cribrinopsis Crassa (mini green) for close to 5 years now. They do range in size and the largest I have gets to 6”. When your parameters are not stable (young tank) they split very frequently like bunnies. Care is pretty much the same as regular BTA. I always see them bubble up unless BTA which can go stringy with no bulbs.

It seems odd to me that there isn't that much sure information on this anemone. It seems like its ideal for smaller tanks people usually keep clowns in, especially since it is so similair to BTAs which is popular already.
It seems like it can go stringy like BTAs too though
https://www.communitycorals.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG-20210116-WA0008-400x400.jpg
Here it is in my tank, though it is under an inch right now and can't host my clowns

bradleym · Jan 5, 2022

Replying to this thread to get it more visibility. I've been wishing for a source for this species in the US for many years! Would even be willing to order a box of them at whatever the cost may be, but as far as I can find, no international sellers will supply them.

chizerbunoi · Jan 6, 2022

I still got some in my tank. I don’t think they are anything special except they stay small. The RBTA choke them out. Anemones are weeds.

bradleym · Jan 6, 2022

I just saw you have build thread and checked it out. I can see why, in that tank, they are nothing special! What an amazing collection! Glad to see you still have them though, as they are still very cool to people like me. :)

They may get choked out in a big tank, but whenever I get my hands on them, they will go front and center in a nano tank, no competition from BTAs, lol.