Bora Bora, French Polynesia, represents the classic oceanic (Darwinian) barrier reef system, complete with a deep and extensive lagoon. The foraminiferal faunas of such oceanic barrier reef lagoons have never been studied in detail. How they relate to atoll lagoons and more broadly to coral reef lagoons in general is not known. Back-reef lagoon samples from Bora Bora were studied for their foraminiferal content. The fauna contains sparse larger symbiont bearing foraminifera, and most samples are dominated by a textulariid fauna of mainly Textularia gr. sp. 1, Textularia gr. foliacea and Textularia oceanica. Statistical analyses revealed three main assemblages, a Textularia-dominated deep central lagoon assemblage, an outer shallow lagoon assemblage characterised by abundant porcelaneous taxa, and a narrow embayment assemblage with abundant Elphidium. Although the species at Bora Bora are common to the Pacific Ocean, the Textularia-dominated assemblages are markedly different from the lagoon assemblages reported from atoll and non-oceanic barrier reef lagoons in the Pacific. These unique assemblages are hypothesised to have evolved due to interactions of the central volcanic island with the lagoon system, likely via the run-off of fine sediment and nutrients. Thereby, the prerequisites for abundant larger, symbiont-bearing foraminifera, which prefer clear, nutrient-poor waters, are largely unavailable. Despite similar substrates and facies, differences between species compositions indicate subtly different disconnected western and eastern deep lagoon environments, possibly due to differences in connectivity to the open ocean. This study provides the first detailed account of the foraminifera from the lagoon of an oceanic barrier reef lagoon.

法属波利尼西亚的波拉波拉岛代表了经典的海洋（达尔文）堡礁系统，拥有深而广阔的泻湖。这种大洋堡礁泻湖的有孔虫动物群从未被详细研究过。它们与环礁泻湖以及更广泛地与珊瑚礁泻湖的关系一般尚不清楚。研究了来自波拉波拉岛的礁后泻湖样本的有孔虫含量。动物群包含稀疏的较大共生体轴承有孔虫，大多数样本以主要为Textularia gr的 textulariid 动物群为主。sp. 1 、Textularia gr。foliacea和Textularia Oceanica。统计分析揭示了三个主要组合，一个Textularia-占主导地位的深中央泻湖组合，外浅泻湖组合，以丰富的瓷类群为特征，以及一个狭窄的海湾组合，含有丰富的Elphidium。虽然波拉波拉岛的物种在太平洋很常见，但以 Textularia为主的物种组合与太平洋环礁和非海洋堡礁泻湖报告的泻湖组合明显不同。假设这些独特的组合是由于中央火山岛与泻湖系统的相互作用而进化的，可能是通过细粒沉积物和营养物质的流失。因此，大量较大的、携带共生体的有孔虫的先决条件在很大程度上是不可用的，它们喜欢清澈、营养贫乏的水域。尽管底物和相相似，物种组成之间的差异表明西部和东部深泻湖环境之间存在细微差异，这可能是由于与公海的连通性不同。这项研究首次详细介绍了来自大洋堡礁泻湖的泻湖中的有孔虫。