This large, laterally-compressed cichlid consumes principally insect larvae and small mbuna in the wild but does not prey on tank mates in captivity. It cruises across the open sand and intermediate habitats at a constant pace, pausing only when prey is detected. Its primary feeding behavior is to approach crevices between boulders and the sand floor. Just before reaching this gap, it flops its body over 90 degrees, thus allowing it to get at prey hiding in narrow horizontal crevices between rocks and the sandy bottom. L. acuticeps is significantly laterally compressed, with a particularly narrow head and pointed snout. This shape is what allows it to gain access to these narrow crevices. Couring males are blue and yellow. Spawning usually occurs over a sandy substrate near rocks.