As for any marked different physical characteristics, "Amyda cartilaginea cartilaginea" exhibits the typical markings and overall look as the originally recognized species of "Amyda cartilaginea", and has "an abundance of yellow spots over the body, yellow-rimmed black ocelli on the carapace, black reticulation on a yellow-olive-brown ground color at the crown of the head" (Fritz, Gemel, Kehlmaier, Vamberger, & Praschag, 2014). The species "Amyda ornata" is of an "arrow headed form" and has a "lighter base color and a more diffuse yellow spotting, which is ‘usually restricted to the cheeks, there are no ocelli but black dots may be present on the carapace, the nuchal tubercles are always weakly developed and the animals always show three (or rarely two) converging black lines on the head’" (Fritz, Gemel, Kehlmaier, Vamberger, & Praschag, 2014). Along with "Amyda ornata" subspecies (unnamed) and "Amyda ornata phayrei", "Amyda ornata ornata"'s "morphology matches the turtles studied by Kuchling et al. 2004" (Fritz, Gemel, Kehlmaier, Vamberger, & Praschag, 2014). In addition, "Amyda ornata" subspecies (unnamed) has "a rather uniform pale color and very large tubercles in the nuchal and back region of the carapace" (Fritz, Gemel, Kehlmaier, Vamberger, & Praschag, 2014). The unconfirmed candidate species, "Amyda" (unnamed), exhibits a "Saddle-blotched colouration"; the turtles in this clade all exhibit "a very similar dark carapacial mark" (Fritz, Gemel, Kehlmaier, Vamberger, & Praschag, 2014).