The general structure and organization of the shallow water (<1.5 m) fish assemblages were studied in two southern Brazilian ecosystems, a bay and a lagoon, under different marine or continental influences. The abiotic factors were measured to define the hydrology of the sites and the biotic descriptors were evaluated to characterize the assemblage structures. Transparency, salinity and organic matter were the abiotic factors which best distinguished the sites. A total richness of 69 species was observed. Ecological guilds, density, diversity and evenness indices values were different in each site. Hydrodynamism and geomorphology determined the structure and the organization of the fish assemblages in these shallow waters. It was observed that variations in the hydrological attributes generated by the marine or continental water movements are able to alter the conditions in the lagoon more quickly and at more regular frequencies than those in the bay.