Globular cluster systems in low-luminosity early-type galaxies near the Fornax cluster centre

We present a photometric study of the globular cluster systems (GCSs) of the Fornax cluster galaxies NGC1374, NGC1379 and NGC1387. The data consist of images from the widefield MOSAIC imager of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) 4-m telescope, obtained with Washington C and Kron-Cousins R filters. The images cover a field of 36 x 36 arcmin(2), corresponding to 200 x 200 kpc(2) at the Fornax distance. Two of the galaxies, NGC1374 and NGC1379, are low-luminosity ellipticals while NGC1387 is a low-luminosity lenticular. Their cluster systems are still embedded in the cluster system of NGC1399. Therefore, the use of a large field is crucial and some differences to previous work can be explained by this. The colour distributions of all GCSs are bimodal. NGC1387 presents a particularly distinct separation between red and blue clusters and an overproportionally large population of red clusters. The radial distribution is different for blue and red clusters, red clusters being more concentrated towards the respective galaxies. The different colour and radial distributions point to the existence of two globular cluster subpopulations in these galaxies. Specific frequencies are in the range S-N = 1.4-2.4, smaller than the typical values for elliptical galaxies. These galaxies might have suffered tidal stripping of blue globular clusters by NGC1399.