Predator colour preference enables the recognition of prey items, and can be useful when designing potential feed. However, the preferred food colour varies depending on the surrounding background colour and light intensity. This study aimed to determine whether the food colour can increase the preference for non-live food, as seahorses prefer live food. Food colour preferences were determined by observing the first response (approach and ingestion) of a sub-adult Hippocampus barbouri, using different background colours. Seahorses (SL: 7.56 ± 0.35 cm and WW: 0.58 ± 0.10 g) were reared in tanks with red, blue and green backgrounds. Sergestid shrimp Acetes sibogae (TL: 1.00 ± 0.05 cm), were used as the tested food, dyed blue, green, red or yellow, while non-dyed shrimp were used as a control. During the trial, shrimp of two different colours were presented against three different backgrounds within the seahorse’s visual field. The frequency of the first response was recorded, and a quantitative analysis was made using a chi-square of independence test and Thurstone’s law of comparative judgment. Against all backgrounds, the first response was significantly biased toward non-dyed shrimp. Yellow- and green-dyed shrimp were also significantly preferred against green and red backgrounds, respectively. Thus, this study demonstrated that sub-adult H. barbouri has colour preferences. However, further study is required to confirm colour vision in H. barbouri.

捕食者的颜色偏好可以识别猎物，并且在设计潜在饲料时非常有用。然而，优选的食物颜色根据周围的背景颜色和光强度而变化。这项研究旨在确定食物颜色是否会增加对非活食的偏好，因为海马更喜欢活食。通过使用不同的背景颜色观察亚成年巴伯里海马的第一反应（接近和摄入）来确定食物颜色偏好。海马（SL：7.56 ± 0.35 cm，WW：0.58 ± 0.10 g）在红色、蓝色和绿色背景的水箱中饲养。虾科虾Acetes sibogae以染成蓝色、绿色、红色或黄色的虾（TL：1.00 ± 0.05 cm）作为测试食品，并以未染色的虾作为对照。在试验过程中，两种不同颜色的虾在海马视野内的三种不同背景下呈现。记录第一次反应的频率，并使用卡方独立检验和瑟斯顿比较判断定律进行定量分析。在所有背景下，第一反应明显偏向于未染色的虾。黄色和绿色染色的虾也分别在绿色和红色背景下显着受到青睐。因此，这项研究表明亚成体H. barbouri具有颜色偏好。然而，还需要进一步研究来确认H. barbouri的色觉。