The Fornax cluster galaxies NGC 1399 and NGC 1404 are ideal for studying the effects of a cluster environment on globular cluster systems .
Here we present new optical imaging of these two galaxies from both the Hubble Space Telescope ’ s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 and the Cerro Tololo Inter–American Observatory ’ s 1.5m telescope .
The combination of both data sets provides unique insight on the spatial and colour distribution of globular clusters .
From B–I colours , we find that both galaxies have a broad globular cluster metallicity distribution that is inconsistent with a single population .
Two Gaussians provide a reasonable representation of the metallicity distribution in each galaxy .
The metal–rich subpopulation is more centrally concentrated than the metal–poor one .
We show that the radial metallicity gradient can be explained by the changing relative mix of the two globular cluster subpopulations .
We derive globular cluster surface density profiles , and find that they are flatter ( i.e .
more extended ) than the underlying starlight .
The total number of globular clusters and specific frequency are calculated to be N = 5700 \pm 500 , S _ { N } = 11.5 \pm 1.0 for NGC 1399 and N = 725 \pm 145 , S _ { N } = 2.0 \pm 0.5 for NGC 1404 .
Our results are compared to the expectations of globular cluster formation scenarios .