  Using detailed mock galaxy redshift surveys (MGRSs) we investigate the
abundance and radial distribution of satellite galaxies. The mock surveys are
constructed using the conditional luminosity function (CLF), and are compared
against data from the 2dFGRS. We use Monte Carlo Markov Chains to explore the
full posterior distribution of the CLF parameter space, and show that the
average relation between light and mass is tightly constrained. The radial
number density distribution of satellite galaxies in the 2dFGRS reveals a
pronounced absence of satellites at small projected separations from their host
galaxies. This is (at least partially) due to the overlap and merging of galaxy
images in the APM catalogue. Because of the resulting close-pair incompleteness
we are unfortunately unable to put meaningful constraints on the radial
distribution of satellite galaxies. Marginalizing over the full CLF parameter
space, we show that in a LCDM concordance cosmology the observed abundances of
host and satellite galaxies in the 2dFGRS indicate a power spectrum
normalization of sigma_8=0.7. The same cosmology but with sigma_8=0.9 is unable
to simultanously match the abundances of host and satellite galaxies. This
confirms our previous conclusions based on the pairwise peculiar velocity
dispersions and the group multipliticy function.
