Taxonomy and systematics of shallow-water tropical benthic foraminifera from the lagoon environments at Bora Bora, Society Islands, French Polynesia

Bora Bora is a volcanic island in the tropical central South Pacific Ocean with a barrier reef and large well developed back-reef lagoons. It forms part of the system of shallow water environments in the archipelagos of French Polynesia that provide stepping stones for the interconnectivity of shallow marine faunas between the tropical Western and Eastern Pacific biogeographic regions. The fauna has many similarities to foraminiferal faunas in the south western Indo-Pacific but has been demonstrated to be unique. This study provides illustrations and discussions of most of the 184 species of benthic foraminifera identified from sediments in the back-reef lagoon environments at Bora Bora, that span from the shallow immediate back-reef sand banks, to the deep lagoons and to the coastal fringing reefs and embayments around the volcanic island. The illustrated specimens and taxonomic discussions are aimed at providing an identification guide to shallow water tropical benthic foraminifera from the central South Pacifi c region. Six new species have been established, including Textularia boraboraensis, , Miliolinella mccullochae, , Quinqueloculina guilcheri, , Triloculina karimimossadeghae, , Coscinospira georgforsteri, , and Elphidium venecpeyreae. . This study also proposes that the family of cymbaloporetids, Cymbaloporidae, are placed within the Superfamily Discorboidea.