That's what I was curious about, because many African cichlids do the same thing. They also have visual signals that are important social cues; for example, fright patterns that signify 'I give up,' or aggression patterns that signify 'Get out of my territory.' It's fascinating, and one of the reasons I keep fishes that can be kept in social groups in captivity.The stripes are usually a juvenile thing, and not significant of really anything wrong, but it usually means something probably spooked it ( temporarily). Parachromis do this as juveniles too.