From the Hubble Deep Field catalog presented in Driver et al. (1998) we
derive the local (0.3 < z < 0.5) Bivariate Brightness Distribution (BBD) of
field galaxies within a 326 Mpc**3 Volume-Limited sample. The sample contains
47 galaxies which uniformally sample the underlying galaxy population within
the specified redshift, magnitude and surface brightness limits (0.3 < z < 0.5,
-21.3 < M_{B} < -13.7 mags, 18.0 < mu_{B} < 24.55 mags/sq arcsec). We conclude:
(i) A luminosity-surface brightness relation exists for both the field and
cluster galaxy populations, M_{B} ~ 1.5 mu_{e} - 50, (ii) Luminous low surface
brightness galaxies account for <10% of the L* population, (iii) Low luminosity
low surface brightness galaxies outnumber Hubble types by a factor of ~ 1.4,
however their space density is NOT sufficient to explain the faint blue excess
either by themselves or as faded remnants.
In terms of the local luminosity density and galaxy dynamical mass budget,
normal galaxies (i.e. Hubble tuning fork) contribute 88% and 72% respectively.
This compares to 7% and 12% for dim galaxies and 5% and 16% for dwarf galaxies
(within the above specified limits).Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters. Nine pages
and two figure
