[1] The male Oaxaca mud turtle can grow to a carapace length of about 160 mm (6 in) with females a little smaller.

The carapace has three distinctive longitudinal keels and is slightly depressed, the width being about 60% of the length and 35% of the height.

The colour of the carapace is dark brown or blackish, or a mottling of the two, and in pale-coloured individuals, the seams are darker.

Its habitat is marshes, muddy pools and other still, turbid water bodies, and it occasionally occurs in rivers.

[1] The diet probably consists mostly of plant material, but small animals such as tadpoles, shrimps, beetles and fish are also eaten.