Definition: The marine hydrothermal vent biome comprises regions of the marine benthic biome where heat generated due to tectonic activity, either at divergent plate boundaries or convergent ocean plates where back-arc spreading occurs, is released or 'vented' to the surface. The resultant high temperature water jets are laden with dissolved metals and minerals.
Definition: Capable of creating a new organism by combining the genetic material of two gametes, which may come from two parent organisms or from a single organism, in the case of self-fertilizing hermaphrodites.
