Aquatic. Carapace somewhat flat and very smooth with an orange middorsal stripe. Plastron plain yellow. 
Arkansas Herpetological Atlas 2019
This species is represented by 134 records from 22 sources: 87 museum (
), 2 literature (
), 0 research (
), and 37 observation (
), with 8 additional Trauth et al. (2004) locality points remaining unsourced (
). It has been museum vouchered for 25 of 75 counties (), with 6 additional counties having other forms of reported occurrence (). Years of collection range from 1929 to present.
This species has a spotty distribution throughout the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and eastern Arkansas Valley, with limited documentation in the South Central Plains from the backwaters of the Little, Ouachita, Red, and Saline Rivers. It is likely undersampled throughout its range. A historical record from Nimrod Lake, Perry County (RAD 1802 from 1965), is likely valid, as K. J. Irwin has captured several unvouchered specimens in the Fourche River floodplain at Harris Brake Wildlife Management Area, Perry County (pers. obs.).
