We measure the frequency of bulk gas-stellar counterrotation in a sample of 67 galaxies drawn from the Nearby Field Galaxy Survey , a broadly representative survey of the local galaxy population down to M _ { B } \sim - 15 .
We detect 4 counterrotators among 17 E/S0 ’ s with extended gas emission ( 24 ^ { +8 } _ { -6 } \% ) .
In contrast , we find no clear examples of bulk counterrotation among 38 Sa–Sbc spirals , although one Sa does show peculiar gas kinematics .
This result implies that , at 95 % confidence , no more than 8 % of Sa–Sbc spirals are bulk counterrotators .
Among types Sc and later , we identify only one possible counterrotator , a Magellanic irregular .
We use these results together with the physical properties of the counterrotators to constrain possible origins for this phenomenon .