An excerpt from the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London of a meeting held on 23 October 1838 reads:
A letter was read from M.
Julien Desjardins, Secretary of the Natural History Society of Mauritius, stating that it was his intention to leave that island on 1 January 1839 for England, with a large collection of objects in natural history, many of which he intended for the Society.
Desjardins made a thorough search for fossils in his home region of Flacq, and found fragments of the osseous cover and humerus bones of endemic tortoises.
At Plaine des Roches and at Montagne Blanche, he found them scattered on the surface.
At Mare La Chaux and Riche Mare, they occurred in mud and shallow water.
L'Ichthyologie à l'Île Maurice de 1829 à 1846 lists 28 species with the specific name desjardinsii.