Los poliquetos como indicadores biológicos en Latinoamérica y el Caribe

Polychaetes (Annelida) are in intimate contact with the sediment where they live and the supernatant water. Environmental stress generates rapid responses in these organisms that are reflected in individuals and their populations, so they are used as biological indicators of disturbance and environmental quality. Polychaetes have been widely used in environmental monitoring and bioassays and many ecotoxicological studies are carried out with polychaetes. In almost all benthic habitats, these organisms play a very important role in the organization and structure of benthic communities and trophic webs. They are a fundamental item in invertebrates feeding and for migratory birds and fishes. Polychaetes are also economically important for the pharmaceutical industry, as concentrated food for cultured marine species (fish and crustaceans), in the medical field and in bioengineering, as well as to recreational (aquarium, bait) and of course for human consumption. Several of the existing environmental impact and quality indices are based on the tolerance/sensitivity characteristics of benthic organisms, and many of them are polychaetes. There are a few revision works of these organisms as indicators, but they are written in English. This work shows an upgrade referring to Latin America including an extensive literature review.