Thick-skinned type taking fruit by Italian river (5)
I believe the answer is:
hippo
'thick-skinned type' is the definition.
(thick-skinned animal)
'fruit by italian river' is the wordplay.
'fruit' becomes 'hip' (the fruit of a rose plant).
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'italian river' becomes 'po' (river in Italy).
'hip'+'po'='HIPPO'
'taking' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for hippo that I've seen before include "Large African beast (abbr)" , "22 aquatic animal" , "Massive thick-skinned animal of African rivers" , "Tropical African mud wallower" , "African wallower (abbr)" .)