There is now strong evidence that the metal-rich globular clusters ( GC ) near the center of our Galaxy are associated with the Galactic bulge rather than the disk as previously thought .
Here we extend the concept of bulge GCs to the GC systems of nearby spiral galaxies .
In particular , the kinematic and metallicity properties of the GC systems favor a bulge rather than a disk origin .
The number of metal-rich GCs normalized by the bulge luminosity is roughly constant ( i.e .
bulge S _ { N } \sim 1 ) in nearby spirals , and this value is similar to that for field ellipticals when only the red ( metal–rich ) GCs are considered .
We argue that the metallicity distributions of GCs in spiral and elliptical galaxies are remarkably similar , and that they obey the same correlation of mean GC metallicity with host galaxy mass .
We further suggest that the metal-rich GCs in spirals are the direct analogs of the red GCs seen in ellipticals .
The formation of a bulge/spheroidal stellar system is accompanied by the formation of metal-rich GCs .
The similarities between GC systems in spiral and elliptical galaxies appear to be greater than the differences .