Adult: Species description based on Savage (1972). Moderately sized frog. Males to 32 mm; females slightly larger (to 42 mm). The ventral surface is spotted in males and unspotted in females.
Dorsal: The dorsal surface is bright red or yellow with numerous black spots of varying size.

Egg: The eggs are large and unpigmented (Duellman and Lynch 1969).
Tadpole: Tadpoles have a large mouth positioned ventrally as well as a large suction disc on the belly, used to cling to rocks and pebbles in streams (Duellman and Lynch 1969). Excellent illustrations of tadpoles may be found in Duellman and Lynch (1969).

Habitat: Premontane and montane forest between 500 to 1150 m.
Type locality: "from a stream on Mt. Sapo, eastern Panama"