Microlepidogaster is a genus of tiny armored catfish in the pleco family, endemic to Brazil and, like many of its relatives among the small suckermouth catfish, built for life clinging to rocks in flowing water. At 1.5–2 in fully grown, these are among the smallest loricariids in the atlas — dwarf, algae-grazing catfish with the flattened head, sucker-disc mouth, and bony armor plating typical of the family, but scaled down to a size that lets them work crevices and smooth rock faces other plecos cannot reach.
The genus barely registers in the aquarium trade — only one of the atlas's seven species, the Carandaí dwarf pleco (M. perforata), carries an established common name, and detailed care information for the group stays sparse outside specialist Brazilian-catfish circles. Conservation status is fairly favorable where known, with three Least Concern species and one Near Threatened, though three of the seven remain Not Evaluated, leaving much of this small, stream-restricted genus without a formal wild-status assessment.