Dark brown with five lighter stripes. Males with enlarged, reddish jaws during mating season. Scales smooth and shiny. Two postmental scales. Seven upper labial scales. Juveniles with more prominent contrast and bright blue tail. 
Arkansas Herpetological Atlas 2019
This species is represented by 1,856 records from 44 sources: 1,635 museum (
), 0 literature (
), 0 research (
), and 168 observation (
), with 53 additional Trauth et al. (2004) locality points remaining unsourced (
). It has been museum vouchered for 72 of 75 counties (), with 2 additional counties having other forms of reported occurrence (). Years of collection range from 1855 to present.
This species is common statewide.
