Albert Hazen Wright (1879-1970) was a prominent herpetologist, but began his career as a biologist studying the relationship between fish distribution and habitat. His innovative study resulted in a thesis in 1906, but the results of the thesis work did not appear as a peer-reviewed publication. The edited manuscript and printing plates for a planned publication were discovered at the New York State Museum. Documents at the State Museum, NYS Archives and Cornell University Library revealed that the manuscript was accepted, reviewed by peers and prepared for publication. However, it was never published. The publication would have been a valuable one for the discipline because it is an early effort of the study of ecology of fishes.