Washington, June 15: A new study has revealed the first non-human example of where punishment fits the crime and results in the offender adjusting their behaviour according to the potential penalties.

Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and a number of other leading scientific institutions have found that male cleaner fish punishes his female partner severely when she drives off their `client' fish.

The female fish will then respond to this punishment by providing better service to high value clients in the future.

Cleaner fish feed in male-female pairs by removing parasites from larger ''client'' fish.

While providing this cleaning service, cleaners may get greedy and bite clients rather than sticking to parasites.

This cheating by cleaners causes mealtimes to come to an abrupt end as the disgruntled client fish swims off.

Females that bite clients receive aggressive punishment from their male partners for such greedy behaviour, according to the study.

"Our research shows that male cleaner fish are sensitive to their female partner''s size. One reason for keeping a cheating female in check may be to stop her eating too much and then challenging his position as the dominant male on the reef," said Nichola Raihani, lead author from ZSL.

The study appears in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. (ANI)