Hi Jay, the bloated newts that I've seen had no problems with floating, so I don't think floating is directly associated. And I've never heard that inflammation is involved in bloat. I think you may be confusing inflammation with swelling. There are more technical terms we could use, such as edema, but we're trying to keep this on a layman's level as much as possible, so I'd go with swelling.
Since we have an entire article on the subject of bloat, this definition can be brief and need not repeat information that the reader will get from the article. In the end, we have to end up with a single definition that will go into a list. Could you propose one that combines my definition plus whatever you think is essential to add?