The pygmy madtom (Noturus stanauli) is a species of fish in the family Ictaluridae endemic to the United States, in only two known regions of Tennessee.

Although no observations of seasonal habitat shifts have been made, the closely related smoky madtom is known to switch from riffles to overwinter in shallow pools.

Conservation Fisheries, Inc. of Knoxville, Tennessee, was able to propagate young on several instances and reported adult activity was limited only to the early evening hours.

The pygmy madtom was listed as federally endangered throughout its entire range in 1993, so a management plan was drafted in 1994 by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service outlining description of actions to be taken, time frame, responsible parties, labor type and various other activities relating to species repopulation.

One hypothesis states, "...in addition to visible habitat degradation be related to their being unable to cope with olfactory 'noise' being added to riverine ecosystems in the form of a wide variety of complex organic chemicals that may occur only in trace amounts.

[8][9] Threats affecting the pygmy madtom are increased urbanization, coal mining, toxic chemical spills, siltation, improper pesticide use, and stream bank erosion.

Existing federal and state laws and regulations are applied to actions conducted within the range of pygmy madtom to protect the fish and its habitats.