Life in a cubic foot in Moorea, French Polynesia

A blackspot sergeant on the reef in Moorea, French Polynesia. In five distinct and contrasting environments, from a tropical forest to a city-centre park, Liittschwager set down his 12-inch metal cube, and started watching. Each creature that passed through the cube was counted and charted with the help of his assistant and a team of biologists. Over a three-week period the team photographed each inhabitant that passed through the cube, down to creatures measuring a mere millimetre
Photograph: 2010 David Liittschwager/National Geographic

In Moorea, the team discovered a vast array of species thought to only be a very small selection of the reef's full diversity. Among their findings were this frankly terrifying post-larval octopus
Photograph: 2010 David Liittschwager/National Geographic

The sacoglossan sea slug (Cyerce nigricans) is about 2cm across
Photograph: 2010 David Liittschwager/National Geographic

This sea star (Meridiastra rapa) is just a centimetre or so across
Photograph: 2010 David Liittschwager/National Geographic

The whitespotted boxfish, (Ostracion meleagris) are about 15cm long and inhabit coral reefs. Liittschwager, a photographer best known for his large images of rare animals and plants, was amazed at the diversity and abundance of life that passed through such a small area
Photograph: 2010 David Liittschwager/National Geographic

In total, more than 1,000 individual organisms were photographed, and the diversity of each environment can be seen on nationalgeographic.com. 'It was like finding little gems,' Liittschwager said
Photograph: National Geographic