Useful information about R. mutabilis can be obtained from Lin’s (1933) original description, despite inaccuracies in the accompanying figure pointed by Kottelat (2001). Based on this information, in combination with our current understanding of the taxonomy of Rectoris and its allies, the problems with the generic classification, identity and type locality of this species are here addressed. The type specimen (No.35, 128 mm SL) of R. mutabilis, in terms of Lin’s text and illustration, has the following characters: fimbriate ventral margin of rostral cap, papillae densely scattered over ventral margin of rostral cap and lower lip, antero-rostral position of rostral barbels, no movable lateral rostral lobes, a frenum connecting the upper jaw and lower lip at the corner of the mouth, and maxillary barbels tiny or absent. These characters, as here understood, place this specimen in Rectoris instead of any other garrain genus (see the generic diagnosis for details). Bǎnǎrescu (1986) commented that the putative holotype of this species is similar to Crossocheilus horai, which was placed in Cirrhinus by Roberts (1997); given this, we fully agree with Kottelat (2001) that the specimen labelled as the holotype of E. mutabilis in CAS-SU is not the type of R. mutabilis.