Figure 55.10 Sea Star Predation on Mussels Has Community-Wide Effects Along the coasts of the Pacific Northwest of North America and New Zealand, sea stars preferentially feed on mussels, creating bare space for other sessile invertebrates such as acorn and gooseneck barnacles. Experiments by Robert Paine demonstrated that when sea stars were removed from the rocky shore, mussels outcompeted other sessile invertebrates for space, resulting in a decline in the number of invertebrate species in both (A) the Pacific Northwest and (B) New Zealand.