The grenadier genus Hymenocephalus is represented in southern African upper slope waters by two species: H. italicus Giglioli, 1884, ranging from the North Atlantic to the eastern Indian Ocean, and H. gracilis Gilbert & Hubbs, 1920, a nearly cosmopolitan species. Hymenocephalus italicus was previously identified in southern African waters as H. heterolepis (Alcock, 1889), which is here re-affirmed as a junior synonym. Hymenocephalus gracilis is newly recorded for the southern African marine ichthyofauna.