The mangrove skink is a small to medium-sized, short-legged lizard with smooth, overlapping scales and a grey or brownish-grey body. It is semi-aquatic and typically inhabits intertidal zones, mangrove forests and rocky shorelines, where it forages in tidal pools for insects and crustaceans. The skink often has faint black bands on its sides and a bluish throat, with a greenish or yellowish belly, and can grow to under one foot in length.