The Tennessee Aquarium is being sued by a man who claims a river otter jumped up and bit his finger.
Robert Rouse is asking for $9,500 in damages in the Circuit Court complaint.
He said the incident happened June 11, 2012, at the otter exhibit.
The suit, filed by attorney Marvin Berke, says the Aquarium "was guilty of negligence in that it failed to properly protect patrons from otters leaping and grabbing parts of their body, it failed to keep a protection barrier so that patrons cannot be bitten and it failed to do anything to prevent the accident, but carelessly, recklessly and negligently allowed the injury and damages to occur."
It says the Aquarium "was further guilty of negligence in that it had a wild animal which it did not protect the public from."
Mr. Rouse had doctor bills and other expenses after his right index finger was bitten, it was stated.