Ecology: Lowland humid forest; on soil. Elevation: 300-390 m (Venezuela: ? m, Colombia: 300-390 m). Distribution: Northern Amazon basin of Brazil and Colombia, also Panama.
The narrow appearance of the leaves with a long excurrent costa is diagnostic. Fissidens subulatus is typically a small species with stems to 3 mm, narrowly lanceolate leaves to 1. 5 mm, vaginant lamina ca. 1/3 the leaf length, unequal and weakly bordered, smooth, firm-walled laminal cells. The Fendler collection from Tovar seems suspecious; this locality is at ca. 2200 m. This species is likely to be found at least in the eastern lowlands of Ecuador and Peru.