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Bora Bora is a volcanic island in the tropical central South Pacifi c 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 Pacifi c biogeographic regions. The fauna has many similarities to foraminiferal faunas in the south western Indo-Pacifi c but has been demonstrated to be unique. This study provides illustrations and discussions of most of the 184 species of benthic foraminifera identifi ed 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 identifi cation 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An invasive foraminiferan is recorded for the first time in an Australian estuary. Trochammina hadai, originally described as endemic from Japan and subsequently found to be alien in coastal waters of California and Brazil, has been identified in estuarine sediment in the vicinity of Bunbury Port in Western Australia. Species determination is based on morphological, molecular and ecological similarities to the Japanese type. The species has not been recorded in other estuaries in Australia. Bunbury Port is a major exporter of woodchip to Japan and the introduction of T. hadai may have come from ballast water out of shallow-draught woodchip vessels. Small sediment samples of estuarine mud obtained at water depths of ~5 m contain abundant T. hadai (on average,0.4 mm in adult diameter) that are easily recognised in microscopic view of the sediment surface by their bright reddish-brown colour. The collection of sediment samples from the estuarine floor and ballast water, and the examination of these for foraminifers, may provide a useful indicator in estuaries for the possible presence of other exotic species, particularly in the vicinity of ports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]