Curt Alfred Herbst (29 May 1866 – 9 May 1946) was a German embryologist and zoologist who studied development of cells and tissues.
He noted the mechanosensory organs now known as Herbst corpuscles in the bills of birds.
Herbst was born to Heinrich and Henriette Martin in Meuselwitz, Thuringia.
He was educated in Geneva and Jena where his teachers included Carl Vogt and Ernst Haeckel.
He studied echinoderm larvae and noted the effect of lithium ion gradients on morphogenesis and noted sex-determination in Bonellia viridis through environmental concentrations of ions.