This is a large (2O to 25 centimeters or 8 to 1O inches carapace length) freshwater turtle, normally with an orange to reddish plastron and a prominent notch at the tip of the upper jaw, bordered on either side by a toothlike cusp. The elongated carapace is highly arched and elevated along the midline; its highest point is often anterior to the midbody where the carapace is widest. The carapace is brown to olive, with yellow, orange, or reddish streaks and mottling that form distinct, light vertical bars on the pleural scutes. The skin is olive to black with yellow to light orange stripes. The Alabama red-bellied turtle seems to feed almost entirely on aquatic plants (Dobie 1985b).