Two new genera and eight new species of benthic foraminifera are described from the shallow water, tropical lagoon of Madang, Papua New Guinea. The new hauerinid genus <i>Pseudolachlanella</i> is characterized by juvenile cryptoquinqueloculine, adult almost massiline arranged chambers, and a slitlike, curved aperture with parallel sides and a long, slender, curved miliolid tooth. <i>Pitella haigi</i> n. gen., n. sp. is a new foraminifera with cryptoquinqueloculine arranged chambers, an almost entirely pitted shell surface (pseudopores) and a rounded aperture with a short simple tooth. Among the other species described as new are four hauerinids and two agglutinated foraminifera All new species described here occur sporadically in the shallow water back- and forereef environments of the lagoon (0–55m), and live infaunally and epifaunally in well-oxygenated, fine and coarse grained biogenic sediments. They are absent in muddy, organic-rich, low-oxygen sedimentary environments within bay inlets where variations of salinity are considerable.