Membranelles are structures found around the mouth, or cytostome, in ciliate

Ciliate

The ciliates are a group of protozoans characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to flagella but typically shorter and present in much larger numbers with a different undulating pattern than flagella...

 protist

Protist

Protists are a diverse group of eukaryotic microorganisms. Historically, protists were treated as the kingdom Protista, which includes mostly unicellular organisms that do not fit into the other kingdoms, but this group is contested in modern taxonomy...

s. They are typically arranged in series, to form an "adoral zone of membranelles," or AZM, on the left side of the buccal cavity (peristome). The membranelles are made up of kinetosomes arranged in groups to make up polykinetids. The cilia which emerge from these structures appear to fused and to function as a single membrane, which can be used to sweep particles of food into the cytostome, or for locomotion.