This study was carried out in the Gulf of Izmir in the Aegean Sea between June 2006 and November2008. The purpose was the creation of a new concept of the artificial reef for Octopus vulgaris, witha view to establishing new artificial reef sites to be used in the fisheries management of this species(MPA, NTZ or fishing areas). First, the main characteristics of natural octopus nests were recorded(entrance width, length, etc.) by divers. These characteristics were used in the construction of newoctahedral artificial reef blocks. The blocks were made of reinforced concrete, in a shape like that ofan inverted pyramid, with an upper surface of 100×100×25 cm 3 and a lower one of 60×60 cm 2. Fourcylindrical holes each with two ellipsoidal openings were placed in one face and in the lateral edge ofthe octo-block, to serve as the entrances to the artificial nest. Each nest has a volume of 5000 cm 3.Eighty octo-blocks were deployed as artificial reefs at 10 m from each other at 15 different depths attwo sites by divers with the help of the winch of the R/V EGESUF. These artificial octo-reefs werecensused by direct observation. Twenty-eight octopuses were sampled at the end of 25 dives.Minimum mantle length of the octopuses was 75 mm and the maximum 249 mm, with an average of152.71 mm. The average total length was calculated to be 918.57 mm. The weight of the specimenswas between 244 g and 7140 g with an average of 2335.43 g. The results showed that both sites wereinhabited by octopuses coming from the artificial reefs, which used them as nests. These nests seemto have constituted special places for fisheries management and will permit the assessment of reserveareas or marine protection areas (MPA), thus opening up a new perspective for Turkish fisheries
