Abstract: Objective To investigate the water quality and sanitary conditions of oyster aquaculture water in Changsha Bay of Guangdong Province and explore the relationship between the fecal coliform bacteria (FCB) and primary physicochemical indexes in oyster aquaculture water. Methods Samples of seawater were collected monthly from five sites of the oyster aquaculture area in Changsha Bay during November 2013 to October 2014 and determined for the physicochemical parameters, including temperature, pH, salinity, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen according to GB 17378.4-2007 as well as the number of FCB according to GB 17378.7-2007. Results A total of 60 seawater samples were collected during the investigation. The FCB number in seawater taken from the oyster aquaculture area ranged from 10 MPN/L to 1.26×106 MPN/L with a geometric mean of 3.8×103MPN/L. Of the samples, 60.0% (36/60) exceeded the Sea Water Quality Standard (GB 3097-1997) for FCB in grade II seawater. During the study period, water temperature ranged from 13.1 to 32.5 ℃, pH ranged from 6.8 to 9.2, salinity ranged from 0.1 ‰ to 24.9 ‰, turbidity ranged from7.0 to 140.0 NTU, and dissolved oxygen ranged from 2.9 to 12.5 mg/L. Negative correlations were found between FCB and salinity as well as dissolved oxygen(r=-0.266、-0.505). A positive correlation was observed between FCB and turbidity(r=-0.425). Conclusion The exceeding standard rate of FCB in seawater was relatively high in Changsha oyster aquaculture area. The salinity, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen have some effects on the FCB number in seawater.