It is the only species of Capuchin whose fur is black on the body, legs and tail. The black color extends to the back of the head by forming a cap, certainly the origin of its name "Capuchin monkey" His coat is also distinguished by a white coloration of the head, throat, shoulders and upper arms. The face is generally pink and quantity of white fur that covers varies depending on age and sex. The body length of an adult ranges from 33.5 to 45.3 cm and its tail measure between 35.0 and 55.1 cm. Females weigh an average of 2.67 kg while males reach an average weight of 3.87 kg. The Capuchin monk moves on its four legs and shows an occasional bipedal movement. His hand is prehensile.

The reproduction females Capuchin monkey is not visible, in the sense that there is no change of color or morphology during oestrus. The dominant sexual behavior is not indicative at the hierarchy of males in this case, since all males seem to have access to females. There is no apparent consort although the dominant male is the father of the majority of young monkeys. The gestation lasts between 157 and 167 days. Females give birth for the first time around the age of 7 years and the average interval between births is of 26.4 months. Males become potential breeding around the age of 6 years although many researchers consider sexual maturity at more than 7 years in this species. Moreover Jack Fedigan stressed that 10 years may be necessary to ensure that males reach their physical maturity. There is no data on the Capuchin fertility.

Capuchin monkeys are mentally capable of mapping the location of their food sources and timing the of availability of these resources (King 1986). Garber and Paciulli (1997) have demonstrated that they use more of their spatial perception (mental map) than the visual perception of smell or direct to search for food. However, it may involve some visual clues to resources and appear to discriminate different quantities of food. Moreover, they have fast learning skills and very flexible. These authors have shown that the Capuchin monk, like other species of primates and particularly the great apes, using mostly global spatial information in the context of food hunting.