Frilled sharks (Chondrichthyes, Hexanchiformes, Chlamydoselachidae), long believed to be a monotypic family and genus, consisting of a single wide ranging species, Chlamydoselachus anguineus (Garman, 1884), is now known to contain at least two species. A new species of frilled shark, Chlamydoselachus africana, sp. nov., is described from five specimens collected from southern Africa. The new species, although difficult to distinguish externally from the well known C. anguineus, differ internally by the structural differences in the chondrocranium, lower total vertebral and spiral valve counts, and pectoral-fin radial counts. The new species, Chlamydoselachus africana, is known from off southern Angola, Namibia, and South Africa.