A social lesson or two, from fish.

How Fish (Yes, Fish) Punish Each Other - TIME: "The researchers believe the results are relevant to humans because it may offer clues to how humans evolved their own uniquely complex system of punishment. Despite the centrality of the concept of punishment to human society, evolutionary biologists are stumped as to what selective pressure would have led us to punish people who have cheated or harmed not the person who does the punishing, but a third party — even if that party is no genetic relation. Some biologists suggest that punisher's benefit from a boost in social status and are thus more attractive as a mate."

I suppose it is typical of the scientific community to try and compare observed behavior across different species from totally different environments and then to postulate imperative similarities, and more pertinently so because humans are scientifically proven to enforce our own reality into everything.

In the example from the article in TIME our collective consciousness go so far as to imply that negative social behavior like punishment could have a positive social impact by improving the mating probability of the punisher. And without one single shot being fired a declaration of victory has been made to justify the social existence of punishment, even though there is an ever increasing snowball of opinion that the social value of punishment has reached the end of its delusional existence.

In my own point of view it is about time that we collectively question the existence of many of the so called "human" or natural behavioral traits, particularly those that are rooted in our own survival. While it is true that anything with the potential to trigger our fight or flight response has the power to limit our entire comprehension to three imminent choices, it is also true that we can consciously understand that our severe incapacity to comprehend anything other than choosing fight, flight or passing out is the result of adrenaline.

We are able to consciously comprehend that our intellectual limitation is the result of a hormone that has been released in our blood stream, following what ever it was that scared us. We understand that our heightened sense of awareness and superhuman abilities are merely the result of our unique biological design, and that the initial hormone rush responsible for our transformation will abide within 90 seconds. We are capable of reason that may prevent this hormonal response from being triggered, and instinct that prevent us from perpetuating this rush beyond our conscious experience of danger. Most of us have knowledge about individuals that spend their entire human experience in a constant search for that rush, and many of us have done so in the past.

The mere existence of any particular social behavior does not imply any value to its existence. Much like fight or flight, punishment does not really have any worth or value in the society we have become, and should be seen as the remnants of a bygone era to perpetuate a social pecking order based on power and greed.

As for the fish, my guess would be that there is any of a number of alternatives to why they would display the behavior labeled as punishment.
Maybe its because they get cranky due to little sleep, I know I do!