Living foraminifers were found associated with seaweed, seagrass, dead coral, crust, and sediment substrates in the hypersaline Abu Dhabi lagoon.Peneroplis planatusis the most abundant living species and it is the most conspicuous dead form in the carbonate sediments. In common with other lagoons of this type, diversity is low and there is a dominance of Miliolina and Rotaliina. The Abu Dhabi lagoon is a modern analogue of fossil lagoonal sediments from the Meso‐zoic and Tertiary of Arabi