Medium-sized (up to 24 cm CL) turtle with dark shell. Head and carapace profusely decked with light spots and dashes. Each plastral scute patterned with a large dark blotch usually bordered with yellow but, in older individuals, entire plastron may be black. Pleural scutes of young unpatterned or have faint radiating streaks. Disproportionately longer tail than box turtles. Male with concave plastron, heavier tail with cloacal opening behind edge of carapace, and dark markings on upper mandible.