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Extending deep observations of the neutral atomic hydrogen (H I) to the environment around galaxy groups can reveal a complex history of group interactions which is invisible to studies that focus on the stellar component. Hickson Compact Group 44 (HCG 44) is a nearby example, and we have combined H I data from the Karoo Array Telescope, Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, and Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey, in order to achieve high column density sensitivity (NHI<2x1018 cm-2) to the neutral gas over a large field of view beyond the compact group itself. We find that the giant H I tail north of HCG 44 contains 1.1 x 109 M⊙ of gas and extends 450 kpc from the compact group: twice as much mass and 33 per cent further than previously detected. However, the additional gas is still unable to account for the known H I deficiency of HCG 44. The tail likely formed through a strong tidal interaction and H I clouds in the tail have survived for 1 Gyr or more after being stripped. This has important implications for understanding the survival of neutral clouds in the intragroup and circumgroup medium, and we discuss their survival in the context of simulations of cold gas in hot haloes. HCG 44 is one of a growing number of galaxy groups found to have more extended H I in the intragroup and circumgroup medium than previously measured. Our results provide constraints for simulations on the properties of galaxy group haloes, and reveal a glimpse of what will be seen by future powerful H I telescopes and surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stellar and neutral hydrogen (HI) mass functions at z ~ 0 are fundamental benchmarks for current models of galaxy evolution. A natural extension of these benchmarks is the two-dimensional distribution of galaxies in the plane spanned by stellar and H I mass, which provides a more stringent test of simulations, as it requires the H I to be located in galaxies of the correct stellar mass. Combining H I data from the Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA survey, with optical data from Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we find a distinct envelope in the H I-to-stellar mass distribution, corresponding to an upper limit in the H I fraction that varies monotonically over five orders of magnitude in stellar mass. This upper envelope in HI fraction does not favour the existence of a significant population of dark galaxies with large amounts of gas but no corresponding stellar population. The envelope shows a break at a stellar mass of ~ 109 M⊙, which is not reproduced by modern models of galaxy populations tracing both stellar and gas masses. The discrepancy between observations and models suggests a mass dependence in gas storage and consumption missing in current galaxy evolution prescriptions. The break coincides with the transition from galaxies with predominantly irregular morphology at low masses to regular discs at high masses, as well as the transition from cold to hot accretion of gas in simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]