Its diet varies seasonally, commonly consisting of crabs, fish, small mammals, amphibians and snails.

This crocodilian has a large range and population; it is native to much of Latin America, and has been introduced to the United States, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

[12] Later, the subspecies was discovered again by wildlife biologist Forrest Galante for the television show Extinct or Alive in 2019 and identified by DNA sampling.

[13][14][15] Galante has advocated for the Rio Apaporis caiman to be considered a distinct species, while Balaguera-Reina maintains its official status as a subspecies.

[18] The upperside of the species is mostly brownish-, greenish-, or yellowish-gray colored and has dark brown crossbands,[17] with a lighter underside.

[8] It changes color seasonally – during colder weather, the black pigment within its skin cells expands, making it appear darker.

[23] The spectacled caiman can move rapidly when threatened, but is usually immobile, resting on shores or partly in water.

[18] Spectacled caiman have Müller glial cells in their eyes that contribute to excellent night vision.

Smaller specimens tend to eat more insects and freshwater shrimp, while larger ones more frequently consume mammals and fish.

[26][27] Other animals that have been known to be a part of its diet include amphibians, arachnids, birds, myriapods, reptiles (lizards, snakes, and turtles), and small mammals.

There is no strict reproductive hierarchy in spectacled caiman, but studies show larger males have more success breeding.

[16] The females build nests as a mound of dense vegetation, in areas that are close to water but not at risk of being flooded.

The nests are over 1 metre (3.3 ft) in diameter and can be 40 centimetres (16 in) high, but the exact size depends on the resources available.

[18] In a study in the Central Amazonia assessing reproductive similarities between C. crocodilus and Melanochus niger, research found that they indiscriminately separate their nests at larger distances than other species in this family, most likely to avoid predation.

[11] Young are threatened by various predators, such as raptors (like hawks)[37] and wader birds (like herons),[25] causing most to die in their first year.

It lives in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela, and may also be extant in Belize and Bolivia.

[39] It usually lives in forests, inland bodies of fresh water (such as wetlands and rivers), grasslands, shrublands, and savannas, but is very adaptable.

[18] In Brazil, the species lives in the rivers Amazon, Araguaia, Araguari, Itapicuru, Rio Negro, Paranaíba, Solimões, Tapajós, Tocantins, and Xingu.

[2] It is reasonably resilient to hunting as well, as hunters usually focus on large males and the species reproduces at a small size.

Specimens that have been introduced to Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the United States negatively impact the native animals there.

They are believed to have been the main reason for the likely extirpation of the Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer) from the Isla de la Juventud, Cuba.

The most common form of conservation is the use of cropping, which consists of manually reducing the numbers of several wild and abundant species.

[16] A conservation program in Colombia, which existed from 2004 to 2006, bred spectacled caimans in captivity and released the young into the wild at one year old.