The Caribbean spiny pocket mouse is a ground-dwelling rodent of forests in northern South America. Many populations have pale brown, ochre-speckled backs and rounded ears.
Most populations have pale brown dorsal fur strongly flecked with thin ochre hairs. Its ears are rounded throughout the range, although some populations from moist areas have much darker fur.
In eastern Venezuela, field teams often captured it on the forest floor among leaf litter in tropical rainforest and secondary forest. It was also found near small farms but not in flooded, grassy savanna at the sampled sites.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.