Leptoancistrus is a small genus of suckermouth armored catfish (family Loricariidae) native to river drainages in Colombia and Panama, near the border zone between South and Central America. Like other loricariids, its two species have a flattened, bony-plated body and a ventral sucking mouth ringed with fine rasping teeth, used to graze algae and biofilm from rocks and wood in flowing water. Atlas species are small for plecos, ranging from about 1.5–3 in as adults — well under the size of the large ornamental plecos most aquarists picture.
Neither Leptoancistrus canensis nor L. cordobensis has a significant foothold in the aquarium trade; this is a genus documented mainly through regional ichthyological collecting rather than fishkeeping. Conservation status is mixed and only partly assessed — L. canensis is Least Concern while L. cordobensis is Data Deficient — leaving a real gap in understanding how these small-range Central American drainage species are faring. Care and breeding information for the genus in captivity is effectively nonexistent.